Chepstow flying sites
Note: This map only shows the location of Chepstow town within the UK.
CHEPSTOW see also CAERWENT
CHEPSTOW: Temporary aerodrome
NOTES: Was CAERWENT possibly the venue used by the Berkshire Aviation Co in between June and September 1922. My guess is probably late August? Could they have used this location or perhaps the racecourse?
The reason I think it is possible they used CAERWENT is because the location on the 27th September for Alan Cobham’s 1935 No.2 Tour was given as, “Five Lanes, Newport Road, SW of of Chepstow and this marries up very well.
The same question also applies to the use of a site in/near Newport when on the 23rd May 1933 Cobham’s No.2 Tour displayed in/near Chepstow. On the 28th September Cobham’s 1934 Tour visited Chepstow, again possibly using this site?
Today of course it might seem clearly obvious that this Landing Ground must have been used – as after all, how many other Landings Grounds were there around here? However, this assumption cannot be relied upon because a key factor in choosing a location for the ‘Flying Circus’ operators was the fee charged and it is known that sometimes they operated virtually next door to an existing aerodrome, let alone a Landing Ground, for just this reason – plus it gave them almost full independence to organise their affairs.
LICENSED AERODROMES
I say “almost full independence” because in the early days these sites, even though usually operating for one day, two at most generally speaking from the late 1920s, had to be officially licensed aerodromes. Indeed, in the early days two men from the Ministry would turn up in advance, survey the site and, if deemed suitable, (which they invariably were), they nevertheless often imposed operational and/or performance limitations on some of the aircraft. The safety record was so good, especially for those days, that eventually the Ministry decided to allow at least some operators, such as Alan Cobham’s, to become self-regulating. But, even so as I understand the history, they were nevertheless still officially sanctioned as licensed sites.
This means of course that if a serious accident occurred, especially if involving injury of death, the operation would have been subjected to a full official inquiry, and, obviously these operators definitely did not want that outcome as it could potentially ground the fleet.
CHEPSTOW: Military airstrip and a Satellite Landing Ground
Military user: Royal Air Force
7 SLG (Satellite Landing Ground)
U.S. First Army ‘VII’ Corps
90th Infantry Division Artillery 344th Field Artillery Battalion
Location: Chepstow racecourse, roughly 1nm NW of Chepstow town centre
Period of operation: May 1941 to December 1944
NOTES: The main function of this site was being a SLG for 19 MU at St ATHAN from May 1941 to February 1942. Afterwards it appears that 38 MU at LLANDOW took over until February 1942. What intrigues me is why an MU (Maintenance Unit) needed a SLG (Satellite Landing Ground). Could anybody explain why this was required?
Regarding the U.S. Army being at this site it appears that six Piper L-4 Grasshoppers were based here.
CHEPSTOW: Private airstrip
Location: Not known exactly I’m sorry to say, roughly near to Chepstow is the best I have
Period of operation: Being laid out in 2005
Runway: Roughly 07/25 with the main part of the runway being 06/24 plus another ‘dog-leg’ section being 08/26. For landing it appears the length is 315 metres but for take-off 495 metres is available. The strip width is a generous 50 metres it seems
Notes: All this information came from the AAIB report EW/G2005/05/25 concerning the accident involving a PA-38 Tomahawk G-BMXL which I’d highly recommend to anybody - it is very interesting reading. Having flown a couple of “Terrorhawks” into grass airfields including a couple of private airstrips the type is, in my opinion, far from being a suitable short strip type and although this strip isn’t very short, the nature of it would be a definite ‘no-go’ in my book, especially at nigh on gross weight with two PoB.
The reason I’m mentioning this is simply because very, very few flying schools offer strip flying in their PPL syllabus which seems a gross omission as so many pilots will sooner or later want to use one. Indeed, the AAIB reports are peppered with reports of even highly experienced pilots such as airline captains coming to grief when attempting using private strips in light aircraft.
Flying into strips is, in itself, a subject worthy of being treated as a major sub-division of flying light aircraft requiring some form of specialist training. I loved strip flying, having done a lot of it, but by heck, you really do need to be very much ‘up-to-speed’ when attempting to visit many strips. It is generally not difficult - just a totally different environment from flying at licensed aerodromes.
I was invited to write an article on the subject for GASCO Flight Safety magazine, and, although admitting to be a 'learner' I was congratulated by far more experienced pilots for making a pretty good job of describing how to go about it.
Having been taught the basics, I then taught myself by very gradually lowering the limits almost metre by metre but, there is so much else to take into account as well. Doing this sort of flying is fascinating, often exciting, nearly always demanding and highly rewarding. But, if you get it wrong - it will bite!
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