Decided to pay this a visit as heard it's soon to be demolished and the large blue air intake boxes had already been removed.
Was fairly easy to access, couple of fences to go over and a little climb and we were in, was such a weird experience being inside there definitely never had an explore like it.
Now for the history lesson
The large anechoic chamber at the now demolished (2013) Pyestock (NGTE) site in Fleet, Hampshire is the last remaining building at a site steeped in cold war history. The wider site developed jet engines and naval gas turbine engines for fifty years and was the leading site in the world for this kind of research. The anechoic chamber tested the acoustic properties of the various engines and was in use by private aerospace companies until fairly recently. There are plans for a housing developer to build a large estate on the land and this may see the chamber demolished fairly soon.
The National Gas Turbine Establishment (NGTE Pyestock) in Fleet, part of the Royal Aircraft Establishment (RAE), was the prime site in the UK for design and development of gas turbine and jet engines. It was created by merging the design teams of Frank Whittle's Power Jets and the RAE turbine development team run by Hayne Constant. NGTE spent most of its lifetime as a testing and development centre, both for experimental developments and to support commercial engine companies.
The newly merged venture was nationalised. Pyestock, a former golf course in a secluded wooded spot between Farnborough and Fleet was chosen as the turbine development site, as the activities at the NGTE would be top secret and the surrounding woodland would dampen the noise. Construction began in 1949 with small test "cubicles" inside buildings like the Plant House. When the possibility of supersonic jets arose, the site was expanded to the north west, with the Air House and several large test cells built circa 1961.
For over 50 years Pyestock was at the forefront of gas turbine development. It was probably the largest site of its kind in the world. V bomber, Harrier and Tornado engines were tested on site. The power of the air house allowed Concorde's engines to be tested at 2,000 mph. Every gas turbine installed in Royal Navy ships was checked here; captured Soviet engines were discreetly examined.
NGTE Pyestock closed down in 2000 and was decommissioned to make way for a business park.
Picture quality is not the best only had my phone and was so darK in there did the best with what I had
Was fairly easy to access, couple of fences to go over and a little climb and we were in, was such a weird experience being inside there definitely never had an explore like it.
Now for the history lesson
The large anechoic chamber at the now demolished (2013) Pyestock (NGTE) site in Fleet, Hampshire is the last remaining building at a site steeped in cold war history. The wider site developed jet engines and naval gas turbine engines for fifty years and was the leading site in the world for this kind of research. The anechoic chamber tested the acoustic properties of the various engines and was in use by private aerospace companies until fairly recently. There are plans for a housing developer to build a large estate on the land and this may see the chamber demolished fairly soon.
The National Gas Turbine Establishment (NGTE Pyestock) in Fleet, part of the Royal Aircraft Establishment (RAE), was the prime site in the UK for design and development of gas turbine and jet engines. It was created by merging the design teams of Frank Whittle's Power Jets and the RAE turbine development team run by Hayne Constant. NGTE spent most of its lifetime as a testing and development centre, both for experimental developments and to support commercial engine companies.
The newly merged venture was nationalised. Pyestock, a former golf course in a secluded wooded spot between Farnborough and Fleet was chosen as the turbine development site, as the activities at the NGTE would be top secret and the surrounding woodland would dampen the noise. Construction began in 1949 with small test "cubicles" inside buildings like the Plant House. When the possibility of supersonic jets arose, the site was expanded to the north west, with the Air House and several large test cells built circa 1961.
For over 50 years Pyestock was at the forefront of gas turbine development. It was probably the largest site of its kind in the world. V bomber, Harrier and Tornado engines were tested on site. The power of the air house allowed Concorde's engines to be tested at 2,000 mph. Every gas turbine installed in Royal Navy ships was checked here; captured Soviet engines were discreetly examined.
NGTE Pyestock closed down in 2000 and was decommissioned to make way for a business park.
Picture quality is not the best only had my phone and was so darK in there did the best with what I had
