Dochcarty Farm
DOCHCARTY FARM: Temporary aerodrome
Note: All four of these maps and pictures were kindly provided by Mr Michael T Holder, who has obtained permission from the Aberdeen Press and Jurnal to use the picture of the crash scene.
Operated by: Sir Alan Cobham's National Aviation Day Display: No.2 Tour
Location: Just N of the A834, just NW of Dingwall town centre
Period of operation: 16th July 1935
Landing area: Although not square, the E/W and N/S dimensions through the middle of the field are both about 425 metres
NOTES: Mike Holder tracked down a very interesting item in the Aberdeen Press and Journal, when an RAF training aircraft crashed on this site the following day:
DINGWALL PLANE CRASH.
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R.A.F. Pilot and Officer Learner Unhurt.
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UNDERCARRIAGE HITS HEDGE.
"An aeroplane from the R.A.F. base at Novar crashed in attempting to land near Dingwall yesterday, but happily the occupants, a pilot and a learner escaped unhurt. The machine, an Avro 504, was engaged in normal flying practice in the Strathpeffer valley, near Dingwall, and was piloted by Flying Officer Crossthwaite, who was accompanied by a young naval officer undergoing a learner's course."
"In attempting to land on the temporary aerodrome at Docharty [sic], Dingwall, which was prepared for Sir Alan Cobham's display on the previous day, the undercarriage struck a high hedge and the plane overturned, diving nose first into the grass park. The pilot and the learner escaped uninjured but the plane was wrecked. The commanding officer from the Novar base flew to the scene of the mishap and made arrangements for the removal of the plane."
SOME OBSERVATIONS
It needs to be remembered that, even if used for one day, the sites used by the 'flying circus' display operators in the late 1920s and 1930s were officially licensed aerodromes. Therefore, when the decision was made to land here the day after, it was just a private farmers field.
In those days both civil and military pilots thought nothing of landing almost anywhere without permission. Indeed, it was the done thing.
It may well be unfair of course to make such a judgement, but I suspect the instructor in this case hadn't thought it through? He would have been used to flying from much larger aerodromes and may well have thought landing here would be a doodle? After all, a 'Flying Circus' event had just taken place.
What he quite probably was not aware of was that the civilian pilots engaged in this work were far, far more skilled and experienced than any military pilots at that time. They flew in and out small fields like this, hour after hour, all day long, day after day from usually a different field each day, for months on end - only rarely being granted a short rest period.
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