Ayr flying sites
Note: This map only shows the location of the WW2 airfield.
AYR: Temporary aerodrome (Venue - The New Racecourse)
NOTES: Ayr was the 38th venue for the 1929 Sir Alan Cobham's Municipal Aerodrome Campaign, visited on the 18th June. This Tour started in May and ended in October with one hundred and seven towns and cities planned to be visited. Mostly in England but with two venues in Wales and eight in Scotland. AYR was the last venue in Scotland, the previous seven venues being GLASGOW, STIRLING, PERTH, EDINBURGH, LANARK, DUMFRIES and STRANRAER.
The aircraft Cobham mostly used was the DH61 'Giant Moth' G-AAEV, named 'Youth of Britain'. See any of the above mentioned venues for more information. In the end, after a couple of crashes and other problems, he managed to visit 97 venues. A magnificent achievement of course, especially in those days.
A MICHAEL T HOLDER GALLERY
Note: The second item, a newspaper article, was published in The Scotsman on the 28th June 1929.
Note: I have added the area view from my Google Earth © database.
AYR: Civil aerodrome
Pleasure flights: Midland & Scottish Air Ferries
Location: The beach, (near Ayr town centre?)
Period of operation: Early and mid 1930s
NOTES: Established in the early 1930s Midland & Scottish Air Ferries initially undertook pleasure flights from many other sites in Scotland and soon moved on to airline work establishing regular air routes in Scotand and England. In 1934 they were operating seventeen aircraft, mainly DH83 Fox Moths and DH84 Dragons.
AYR RACECOURSE: Temporary airfield?
NOTES: Venue for a Microlight Fly-in in June 2005
AYR: Private airstrip
Runway: 06/24 300 grass
NOTES: The info for this site came from the AAIB report, EW/G2014/05/06. It appears the Zenair CH601XI, G-RWMW was based here?
AYR: Military aerodrome in WW1, in WW2 Royal Naval Air Station
(HMS WAGTAIL & 1948 Books of HMS SANDERLING) (aka HEATHFIELD)
Note: The first picture (2018) was obtained from Google Earth ©. The map and Google Earth detail view have been kindly provided by Mike Holder.
As can be seen virtually nothing remains to give any visual clues. The semi-circular eastern end of the Heathfield Industrial Estate shows the south-eastern extent of the airfield. Also note the southern end of runway 03/21 at PRESTWICK in the two pictures.
Military user: WW1: RAF? No.1 School of Aerial Fighting
WW2: RN Fleet Air Arm (Disembarked squadrons)
1943: USAAF 415th Night Fighter Squadron (Bristol Beaufighters)
169 Sqdn (Beaufighters & DH Mosquitos)
488 Sqdn (Beaufighters)
Civil use: Possible venue for Alan Cobham’s 1929 Municipal Aerodrome Campaign Tour?
Location: 3nm SSE of Troon
Period of operation: WW1: 1917 to 1919 WW2: 1941 to 1948 only?
Site area: WW1: 138 acres 1143x613
Runways: WW2: 06/24 1463x46 hard 18/36 1261x46 hard
13/31 1097x46 hard
NOTES: The mention of the USAAF 415th night fighter squadron flying Bristol Beaufighters might seem like fantasy but does appear to be correct. They were supposed to be equipped with Northrop P-61 Black Widows which failed to arrive. The intrigues of WW2 will probably never be fully recorded. When starting the research for this 'Guide' I was amazed to discover a RAF squadron operated B.17C Fortresses for example. I now know several RAF squadrons operated the type in a variety of roles.
SOMETHING TO PONDER?
As said so often elsewhere in this Guide I often wonder on whose side many of the top RAF brass were actually fighting on – and often suspect it was on the side of the Germans. This shouldn't be too surprising as our Royal family were basically German, and changed their name to Windsor to try and disguise this fact.
AYR is a good enough example because why were night fighters based here? The majority of crews saw no action whatsoever and indeed, after the Blitz period in the UK, (up to the middle of 1941), when the Nazi regime decided to about-turn and attack Russia, the possibility of any large scale attack by the Luftwaffe in this region was virtually non-existent. And, the central planners must have known this.
ANOTHER QUESTION
Please see my listing for SHISKINE on the Island of Arran, which gives details of a Liberator crash in 1941. If the account is correct, it would appear that RAF Consolidated B-24 Liberators were ferrying passengers (possibly aircrew?), across the Atlantic from here. Which puts a whole new dimension into the history of this airfield in WW2.
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