During the early 1950s, there was an expansion of the flight test establishment infrastructure which included a new hard runway suitable for heavy or fast military aircraft along with a large flight test hangar and upgraded airfield instruments including radar. Most of the buildings including the runway from this period are extant, though the radar and instruments are missing. In 1951, Ronald "Ronnnie" Harker took over as the Chief Test Pilot. During the 1950s, he was replaced firstly by Harvey Heyworth followed by his brother Jim Heyworth until 1962. Cliff Rogers was the Chief Test Pilot at Hucknall until 1971. Harvey Heyworth had been a pilot with No. 504 Squadron lastly flying the Hawker Hurricane with Jim Heyworth and Cliff Rogers flying the Vickers Wellington and Avro Lancaster during the war.