It was decided to base the turbine development site at Pyestock, a former golf course in a secluded wooded spot between Farnborough and Fleet; the location was selected as the NGTE's activities would be top secret, thus there was a need to be at a distance from the general public, the surrounding woodland would also dampen the noise.
When the possibility of supersonic jets arose, the site was expanded to the north west; the Air House and several large test cells were built circa 1961.
[5] Shortly after the end of the Second World War, the organisation was reconstituted as a division of the Ministry of Supply, at which point it was renamed as the National Gas Turbine Establishment, commonly referred to as NGTE Pyestock.
[4] During February 1946, Frank Whittle parted ways with NGTE, having resigned from his position after disagreeing with some of the policies being enacted by the British government of the time.
[6] In 1951, the organisation received $4,000,000 (£1,428,600) from the US Government in advance payment for American use of some 200 Power Jets Whittle gas turbine patents over the following 20 years.
[8] The engines of various Royal Air Force combat aircraft of the Cold War era, including the V bombers, Harrier Jump Jet and Panavia Tornado, are believed to have undergone testing at Pyestock.
[8] Every gas turbine to be installed in Royal Navy ships was inspected by the NGTE; captured Soviet engines were also discreetly examined.
[8] It has been speculated that, with the progression of time and advancement of new technologies, particularly computer simulations, it had become easier to accurately predict some of the data that had previously required physical testing to gather.
The site is believed to have been quite costly to run, thus it appears that the British government had decided to gradually reduce the size of the NGTE and to progressively shut down parts of Pyestock.
Its eastern side is sheet glass; 8 large blue exhaust pipes rise the full length of the building, for the 8 compressor/exhauster sets inside.
The 8,000 horsepower steam turbine, which was powered by the site's boiler house, gave the compressor sets a kick start before it was synced with the grid.
The test cell, unique in the world, takes up most of the steel clad structure with its mass of pipes, blast doors and electronics.
The amount of energy required to run the air house (see below) at the speed needed was too great for the site's own power station, so electricity had to be taken from the National Grid.
Pyestock's designers built the Air House on a large scale, thinking it could supply adequate suction for the supersonic test cells.