Christchurch flying sites
CHRISTCHURCH see also BURRY'S FARM
CHRISTCHURCH see also MANOR ARMS
Note: This map shows the location of the main airfield, where the Airspeed factory was located.
CHRISTCHURCH: Originally comprised of two civil Landing Grounds, being combined - BURRY'S FIELD and SOMERFORD BRIDGE. This was called CHRISTCHURCH AIRPORT until 1935 when it was renamed BOURNEMOUTH AIRPORT.
It then became a military airfield in WW2, and later reverted to being a civil aerodrome. (Aka SOMERFORD)
A FLYING CIRCUS VENUE
This site was used by Sir Alan Cobham's National Aviation Day tours twice. The first being on the 30th April 1933 by the No.2 Tour, and two years later on the 10th August 1935 by the No.1 Tour. This is quite unusual in that, as a general rule, Cobham and the other 'Flying Circus' operators tended to avoid using established aerodromes. One reason was probably cost, but equally if not more important, was the ability to maintain total control of the event, which invariably attracted large crowds.
Military users: WW2 RAF Fighter Command 11 Group and Royal Navy
1944: USAAF 9th Tactical Air Command
84th Fighter Wing and 405th Fighter Group (Republic P.47 Thunderbolts)
Operated by:
During WW2? Airspeed (Company started by Neville Shute and Sir Alan Cobham - but later taken over by De Havilland)
Note: First picture supplied by Maurice J Wickstead.
British airline users: Pre 1940: Cobham Air Routes, Great Western & Southern Air Lines, Provincial Airways, Portsmouth, Southsea and IOW Aviation, Railway Air Services, Western Airways
Flying Clubs: 1930s: Bournemouth Flying Club, Christchurch Aero Club?
Post WW2: SHULAC (South Hants Ultra Light Air Club) was formed in 1947 or thereabouts. Christchurch Aero Club, Royal Artillery Aero Club, Vickers-Armstrongs (Hurn) Flying Club
Note: It appears the SHULAC kept going till to 1962 or possibly even as late as 1967?
Note: These pictures from a postcard, were kindly sent by Mike Charlton in 2018.
He has an amazing collection; see www.aviationpostcard.co.uk
NOTES: The Auster J/1N Alpha G-AJEP (top LH) was first registered on the 14th March 1947 until the 29th of May. It then went to Airwork at PERTH (SCONE) from the 5th June 1947 until the 21st August 1952. It was then acquired by the Strathtay Aero Club, also at PERTH, from the 26th August 1952 until the 29th December 1953.
It was then registered to W S Shackleton, who I believe were a sales agency operation, from the 1st January 1954 until the 29th March. It was then acquired by the Southern Flying School at PORTSMOUTH on the 9th April 1954 until the 16th of June. It then being registered to Mr Thomas Hutton Marshall at CHRISTCHURCH from the 22nd June 1954 until the 6th July 1964 when it was declared PWFU (Permanently Withdrawn From Use). Another source states it crashed at CHRISTCHURCH on the 22nd of November 1959. Possibly this was the case, and it was rebuilt.
The DH82A Tiger Moth G-AOJK (Bottom RH) has an interesting history. Ex R4896 it appears on the civil register on the 5th April 1956, also being registered at CHRISTCHURCH to Mr T H Marshall until the 12th August 1960. It was sold to the Wiltshire School of Flying at THRUXTON who operated it from the 12th September 1960 until the 19th October 1962.
It then went to the Shaftesbury Flying Club from the 25th October 1962 until the 15th June 1964 when it seems it crashed and was destroyed. Where I wonder were the Shaftesbury Flying Club based? Possibly at HENSTRIDGE? COMPTON ABBAS wasn't opened until 1975.
But, the story doesn't end here. It seems that all you need is the constructors plate and another 'genuine' Tiger Moth can be created. Just so with G-AOJK, which reappears on the register in 1986 and, it seems, is still flying today. G-ACDC being the classic example.
In the 1957 The Aeroplane directory, the Christchurch Aero Club are listed as operating five Auster J/1 Autocrats and five DH89A Tiger Moths.
Also listed as being a flying club was De Havilland (Christchurch) Sports and Social Club.
This is very interesting. Also in this directory regarding the entry for the Royal Artlllery Aero Club is the information that, "Flying instruction and aircraft maintenance provided by Christchurch Aero Club and Federated Fruit Co. Flying Club." The aircraft they operated were two Auster J/1 Autocrats and one Miles M38 Messenger.But here comes the 'bombshell' news - it appears the Club also operated from SPEKE (Liverpool) which is where the Federated Fruit Co Flying Club comes into the picture. But it seems, doing a bit more research, this Flying Club was actually being supported by Wright Aviation.
Here again, in the 1957 The Aeroplane directory, the Vickers-Armstrongs (Hurn) Flying Club are listed as using Austers and Tiger Moths. Membership being restricted to Vickers-Armstrongs employees at HURN - but the club was affiliated to the Christchurch Aero Club. Who presumably owned and operated the aircraft.
1959 ‘snapshot’. Bournemouth Flying Group, Royal Artillery Aero Club (Middle Wallop)
Note: This airfield map, local area map and the advert were kindly provided by Mr Michael T Holder
Manufacturing: Airspeed later part of De Havilland. In WW2 Portsmouth Aviation were refurbishing Airspeed Oxfords here
Location: 1.5nm E of Christchurch, SE of Stroud Lane, NE of Mudeford Lane
Period of operation: 1931 to 1967. Some say CHRISTCHURCH closed in 1962? Another account says that although officially closed in 1964 GA activity continued to 1972?
Runways: 1930s: SW/NE 594 grass SE/NW 366 grass
WW2: In the early part of WW2 I’ll offer these: N-S 914 grass NE-SW 914 grass
E-W 914 grass NW-SE 868 grass
(Note: Grass runways with steel matting, BRC netting track)
A much longer ‘grass + concrete’ runway on the eastern side of the airfield was laid down in 1943 by the U.S. 833 Engineering Battalion to give the heavily laden P.47s a better chance of safely taking-off. This was 06/24 which was 1509x46 and part concrete, part grass.
The original NE-SW hard runway started in front of the Airspeed works apparently?
In the early 1950s it appears only the ‘new’ N-S and ‘old’ E-W runways were being used
It is also said that the portion of ‘hard runway’ was installed in the 1950s which clearly contradicts other evidence listed above
NOTES: Listed in the ‘AA Landing Grounds’ publications of the 1930s. It seems that in 1933/1934 the BURRY’S FIELD Landing Ground was absorbed into a larger flying field to become BOURNEMOUTH AIRPORT, offering scheduled services. The Airspeed factory was built on the east end of this site. In 1933 it appears there was no hangarage available. But, presumably this only applied to visiting aircraft.
THE AVRO 504 AT CHRISTCHURCH
People do tend to bang on about classic aircraft types, and quite often, tend to ignore the Avro 504, many of which were built at the AVRO factory at HAMBLE east along this coast. The career path of this type must surely exceed every other aircraft ever produced in the UK up to and including WW2. As well as being perhaps the most famous British trainer ranking alongside the much later DH Tiger Moth it was also famously used as a bomber in WW1, with probably the best known raid being when used by the Royal Navy Air Service, for bombing the Zeppelin airship factory in Friedrichshafen on the north side of Lake Constance in WW1.
(Some eighty five or so years later I was welcomed, (as a Britisher), to attend the Zeppelin Centenary celebrations which featured the latest Zeppelin airship and flew two air to air photographic sorties of the unique four airship tour of Lake Constance. As nobody mentioned the RNAS raid I assumed we’d been forgiven.)
First flown in 1913 the career of the Avro 504 spanned four decades. It flew in countless countries and, for example served the American, Argentinian, Australian, Canadian, Danish, Estonian, Japanese, Peruvian, Russian, and Spanish Air Forces. It was also the mainstay for many flying schools and saw sterling service with the various ‘flying circus’ tours of the 1920s and 30s. A supreme ‘joy-riding’ machine used by all and sundry, often fitted with floats. (See PAIGNTON, DEVON, for a picture) But who now knows that it seems seven 504N versions were used by a Special Duty Flight based here in 1940 to tow Hotspur gliders forty miles out to sea to test radar reflection of wooden aircraft? Or so it is claimed, which seems doubtful? A visit to the Army Aviation museum at MIDDLE WALLOP (WILTSHIRE) in 2011 gives a much more plausible answer. They claim that Slingsby Kirby Kites were used - and this makes a lot of sense. They claim that all metal parts as far as possible were removed, even control rods were substituted by wooden parts.
AIRSPEED
It appears that Airspeed built 550 Oxfords here. Also one hundred and twenty two DH Mosquito’s were produced here by Airspeed during 1943 to 1944 and many parts made for other Mosquito production centres. Two Christchurch built Mosquito’s are reputed to have survived into the 1980s.
Note: This picture taken by the author in 2015 of the Airspeed Ambassador at the Imperial War Museum site at DUXFORD (CAMBRIDGESHIRE) in 2015, is probably the only remaining example?
THE AIRSPEED AMBASSADOR
The beautiful Airspeed AS.57 Ambassador airliner was designed and built here. In fact most of the test and development flights were made from this, (mainly?), grass aerodrome. I’d thoroughly recommend reading further about the development of this singular airliner. The original prototype was G-AGUA which first flew on the 10th July 1947. The pre-production Ambassador G-ALFR first flew on the 18th May 1950. The testing wasn't always straightforward and on one test flight an engine exploded, and nigh on fell off, and the subsequent crash landing at CHRISTCHURCH caused substantial damage, seriously delaying the project.
In January 2019 I was very kindly contacted by Anthony Way whose father, then an apprentice, formed part of the recovery team. He told me that on the 13th November 1950 the Ambassador G-ALFR made a crash landing at nearby HURN causing substantial damage. The aircraft was then taken apart and rebuilt at CHRISTCHURCH, flying again six weeks later.
I suppose we need to appreciate that to a large extent Airspeed were out of their depth in producing this aircraft, very lovely though it looked. It was their first foray into designing and manufacturing an all-metal aircraft, let alone an airliner. It goes to show how much talent was around in those days because they made a very fine aircraft. Indeed, so highly was the design regarded, after BEA disposed of their fleet two examples were converted to become VIP transports for the British/Dutch Shell petroleum company. These were looked after by Field Aviation at LAP (London Airport) now known as Heathrow. (I had a chance, as a lad, to be escorted around one of these - and was stunned by the sheer luxury afforded). The remainder were quickly snapped up by independant operators such as Dan Air.
If they’d had the foresight (and funds) to develop a Rolls-Royce Dart turbine powered version I now wonder if it might have succeeded to a much greater extent? Only 23 were built, mostly serving with BEA as the Elizabethan Class, by which name it is still often known. The mystery deepens when you discover that the Ambassador G-ALFR served as test-bed for the Napier Eland and G-AKRD for the Bristol Proteus and then the Rolls-Royce Tyne. So, very obviously, the design was more than capable of accepting much more powerful engines than originally envisaged.
THE HORSA ISSUE
For some now very strange reason Airspeed were still heavily involved in the early 1950s with overhauling Horsa gliders. To what end? Had the military establishment imagined that the Horsa glider could serve any useful purpose in a nuclear war scenario? But I am probably being very unfair saying this because, ever since WW2 ended, succesive British governments have loved to wage a war, especially in the Middle and Far East, and therefore perhaps a case could have been made for an airborne invasion using these gliders?
The main problem as I now see it is what would the RAF have used, in large enough numbers, to tow them? They’d scrapped or sold the types used in WW2. But it appears the fact remains that Airspeed had a Halifax A.9 tug, RT935, to air test these Horsa gliders flown by George Errington and Bob Milne in between flight testing the Ambassador. Ron Clear usually flew the Horsa it seems.
A MOST UNUSUAL TYPE
In October 2020 Mr Graham Frost, a great friend of this 'Guide' sent me this picture of the T.A.C. Bournemouth Non-Rigid Airship G-AMJH. It was built by T.A.C. (Bournemouth) Ltd and registered on the 15th May 1951 and went WFU (Withdrawn From Use) on the 16th August 1952. Apparently it was later scrapped here. But, was it built here? Or indeed, was the picture taken here? Advice will be most welcome.
SHULAC
Part of the story of SHULAC (South Hants Ultra Light Air Club) is told by Peter Amos in Tales Of The Fifties compiled by Peter Campbell, the first of a series of three anthologies I can most heartily recommend. To whet your appetite, when Peter Amos discovered and joined SHULAC they had just lost their Auster Autocrat G-AIPX in a fatal spinning accident. This was replaced by the Taylorcraft Model A G-AFJP which had an engine so knackered it could only do attempts to take-off. Is it only in England one could discover a quite thriving flying club with only one aircraft, and that being unairworthy? Or, as Peter Amos puts it, “This was later to achieve fame with SHULAC as being the most successful non-flying aircraft ever to have been owned by the club!”
Mr Ted Gould came to their rescue lending his Taylorcraft Plus D G-AHUM and on the 29th April 1950 the Auster 4 G-ALYH owned by Tommy Marshall became available. Peter Amos also recounts; “Bournemouth Flying Club’s premises in the south-west corner of the airfield were still in evidence but did not look as though they had been used for many years. They now housed Mr. Fisher’s five dismantled Hawk Trainers G-AICD, G-AICE, G-AIUF, G-AKGR and G-AKGS all looking immaculate in the silver and red colour scheme but presenting a forlorn sight reminiscent of sardines in a tin, and I was taken to see these on Saturday 25th March (my note 1950). His efforts to reform the club had come to nought and these aircraft were destined never to fly from Christchurch.”
ANOTHER STORY
Here is another story from Peter Amos: “Being in such close proximity to the sea Christchurch airfield suffered from some extraordinary and rapid changes in the weather. An episode that I witnessed one evening brought this home in a dramatic fashion. Mr Fisher took off in his Monarch G-AIDE into a sunny sky to the north for a local flight but as he left the ground a sea mist rolled in at about the same speed. He had built the aerodrome before the war so he knew the score, and within a few minutes we heard his engine in the mist and the Monarch touched down right on the centre line of the runway that he had just left. Realising the situation as he got airborne, he flew a circuit pattern, timing each leg to a nicety which he knew would bring him down safely, but it did impress us.”
MAY I INDULGE YOU WITH A STORY?
I have also had encounters with sea fog and I trust the following might interest you. We had taken off from Dinard in France into a completely clear sky intending to call in at Caen for a first visit on the way home. The met report from Caen also gave clear conditions and this was during the summer. On reaching the Cherbourg peninsular we found an unbroken bank of cloud stretching across the horizon and sitting on top of the hills up to a height way above anything we could climb to. I had a pilot friend in the right-hand seat and my wife in the back with my friends video camera. We decided to see if was possible to fly at a low level between 500 and 1000ft around the top of the peninsular. As we neared the top of the peninsular we saw that the cloud base was pretty much on the ground so we started a turn away from the hills to backtrack.
On the way round as the nearby coastline came into view we saw a most extraordinary sight. A fog bank was travelling diagonally across the sea towards the beaches and at a speed we estimated to be around 60 mph. It looked like we were going to get cut off and enveloped and something had to done about it pronto. As the terrain below was unpromising for a sudden forced landing in a field I dived flat out for the beach and flew along it as about twenty feet in the hope we could reach Granville where the runway ends almost on the beach. All the time it was getting murkier and murkier and it looked like we’d have to crash-land on the beach. I briefed that if the visibility became too poor I would touch down, virtually stalled, near the waters edge where hopefully the saturated sand would be a bit firmer – but – when the nosewheel came down it would probably dig in and we’d probably flip over inverted.
It was perhaps quite surprising. There was no sense of alarm amongst us; if anything we had a sort of detached interest as it was very novel belting along at this height at about 140 mph. And, I must admit, as the ‘pilot-in-command’, I was really quite enjoying it as it then seemed we’d outrun the fog bank by a whisker. Indeed my wife was filming the houses we were flying past and later commented how novel it was to be flying, and yet, looking directly across into their living rooms.
We made it to Granville, which was deserted – hence no reply to our radio calls and I decided we had just enough time to climb to about 100ft, make a tight circuit and land- into wind, or what little there was of it. As we taxied onto the apron it was quite something to look across and see the trees in and around the surrounding fields quickly disappear from sight in rapid succession as the fog rolled in. This kind of phenomena is quite common along coasts at any time of year so we knew about it and we had encountered similar circumstances in the past, albeit being able to divert or avoid it by flying into clear conditions either by turning around or going further inland. I still don’t think we were being complacent by deciding to see if we could find a way through, it was simply a case of not knowing of the precise set of circumstances, in that small region, which can produce these results.
We phoned for a taxi into Granville and, incredibly, the driver was a pilot too but didn’t speak English. Using my ‘kerbside’ learnt French being a truck driver, I understood he would come back to pick us up – I think at 3pm, to take us back to the aerodrome. He told us that it would still be foggy but not to worry; by the time we’d be ready to depart the sky would be clear. He was right of course but for us the transformation was astonishing. We flew over the hills in brilliant clear conditions surrounded, just above, by beautiful banks of cumulus cloud.
PICTURES
I have included these pictures, taken in June 2010, simply to show that many years after a fairly major flying site has closed, quite often clues remain.
CHRISTCHURCH: Helipad
Operated by: MEXE later MVEE
Location: ?
Period of operaton: 1960s to 1990s
NOTE: Government experimental establishment
CHRISTCHURCH: Company helipad
Operated by: SRDE later Plessey and then Seimens
Location: ?
Period of operation: 1960s to -
CHRISTCHURCH see also STEWARTS GARDENLANDS
We'd love to hear from you, so please scroll down to leave a comment!
Leave a comment ...
Copyright (c) UK Airfield Guide
