Sir Alan Cobham had encouraged local authorities to build airfields as part of his 'Municipal Aerodromes Scheme' in the late 1920s.

[1] On 18 October 1938 the Straight Corporation, headed by Whitney Straight purchased control of Norman Edgar (Western Airways) Ltd. and renamed it Western Airways, Ltd.[3] On 2 January 1939, the Royal Air Force opened a School of Technical Training at RAF Locking, that did not have an airfield, but was only a mile from the Weston-super-Mare site.

39 Elementary and Reserve Flying Training School RAF (ERFTS) at the airport, using Miles Magisters and the Audax and Hind variants of the Hawker Hart.

286 Squadron RAF that operated a variety of aircraft, including Hawker Hurricanes, Boulton Paul Defiants and Airspeed Oxfords, to provide targets for anti-aircraft gun practice in the west country of England.

116 Squadron RAF its main task was the calibration of predictors and AA radar used by numerous Anti-aircraft batteries in the UK.

During and after the war, the engineering division of Western Airways repaired and maintained many types of military aircraft, and extended this into parts manufacturing.

Production at the site included the Sycamore, that was the first British-designed helicopter to fly and serve with the Royal Air Force, that used it for search and rescue and anti-submarine warfare.

[7] Today there is an operational heliport on site, used occasionally by the RAF Search and Rescue service and other civil and military visiting helicopters.

On 22 November 1946 a Royal Air Force twin-engined Douglas Boston bomber hit and ripped the top off a bus with its landing gear as it was on approach to the airfield.