Douglas flying sites
Note: This map only shows the location of Douglas town within the UK.
DOUGLAS see also THE CUNNINGHAM HOLIDAY CAMP
DOUGLAS: Balloon launching site
Operated by: The Reverend J M Bacon & Charles Green Spencer
Location: The Peveril Hotel
Period of operation: Nov 7th 1902
NOTES: What makes this particular balloon launching site of interest is that it was primarily a Royal Navy trial flight, (the first I believe), to ascertain if a balloon could be an effective way to spot submarines. A primitive signalling method by sound using a ‘collapsing’ drum, (what on earth can that be?), and a whistle was effectively used to contact the 800-ton tender HMS Renard which attempted to hold station with the balloon - although the balloon eventually outran it. Suspended from the top balloon netting, (but I have know idea what it was suspended from!), was a large steering sail which the Rev. Bacon reports “was immediately and wholly satisfactory” when used. I think the Rev was over-egging the cake a bit here bless him as it probably turned the balloon around it’s own axis without altering course much if at all.
The point that interests me most is that about 15,000 spectators gathered to watch the ascent. How they determined this number of people is best glossed over I suppose but most certainly a very large crowd indeed was present. Roughly equivalent to a big modern air show audience. Just to see one balloon fly! Bearing in mind that balloon ascents had been going on in the UK for nearly 150 years by this time, it goes to show the novelty of the occasion for the Isle of Man inhabitants.
They landed at dusk in the Glenesslin Valley which is W of Dunscore on the B729 roughly 10nm NW of Dumfries. As the plan was to land in Cumbria the Rev Bacon seems to have overlooked the almost total ineffectiveness of his steering device, and if you read his report of the flight, in which he states, “I am thoroughly satisfied with all results”, it is easy today to assume the Rev was a sandwich short of a picnic. But we must remember almost nothing was known about the behaviour of the air in those days, and is an excellent illustration of how far we’ve come, in less than a century, regarding exceptionally precise control of aerial navigation.
The ISLE of MAN is also interesting in the context of “British” flying sites because although geographically part of Britain, it is independent of the United Kingdom and the EU, or has been in recent years? It makes me question the status of the island in WW2 because not only did it have ‘British’ military airfields, it was also used for internment camps of some European nationals, the all male camp especially looking almost exactly like a Nazi concentration camp.
NOBLE'S PARK
It appears that the first appearance of aircraft on the Isle of Man was when an event was planned, starting on the 4th July 1911. Two pilots, Claude Grahame-White and George Barnes, were contracted to race the steam packet Ben-my-Chree around the island. Grahame-White had a Farman and Barnes a Blériot, and these were shipped across.
On the day Barnes' Blériot had its propeller damaged, and when Grahame-White took off he soon decided the winds were too strong so returned. However, it appears he did later take-off again to escort the ship into harbour and gave a display. The next day he flew again, including three flights with a passenger.
It also appears that Gustav Hamel made a visit to Douglas on the 3rd August 1912. Presumably he used NOBLES PARK?
DOUGLAS: Temporary beach operating area and aerodrome
Note: Copyright Daily Mail?
Location: On the beach and also NOBLE'S PARK
Period of operation: July 1914
NOTES: A full description of this event is given in the picture text, presumably published originally by the Daily Mail?
DOUGLAS: Temporary aerodrome
Pleasure flights: Avro Transport Co, International Aviation Co
Location: On the foreshore near the town centre
Period of operation: 1919 to 1920 only?
DOUGLAS: Civil Landing Ground
Location: 1nm, (probably 1.5nm?), N of town, (Douglas), just W of Onchan
Period of operation: 1930s only?
Runway: Max landing run: 329 grass
NOTES: Info source, ‘AA Landing Grounds’ publication, 1930s. In the August 1988 issue of Airfield Review listed as being on the Isle of Wight (IOW). An obvious mistake in this case - but I am very aware that tapping just one wrong key on my keyboard can either create confusion or possibly re-write aviation history!
DOUGLAS BAY: Civil sea aerodrome
Operated by: Isle of Man Air Lines
Period of operation: 1932
NOTES: In 1932 Capt Donald Campbell-Shaw and Tommy Rose formed Isle of Man Air Lines with the Cutty Sark G-AAIP with the intention to operate regular services between Liverpool and the Isle of Man. It appears that apart from June 1932 when regular services were a viable option, the company tried to survive by offering ‘joy-rides’ from Douglas Bay. As beset most commercial operaters in those days the capital costs which had to be mostly recouped in a short summer period, coupled with lean pickings in the spring and autumn, could not sustain keeping the operation viable throughout the winter.
A very good example, applying to most if not all attempting airline operations in those days, to explain the considerable urgency to develop ‘all-weather’ flying techniques and associated equipment and facilities. Within a few years the best commercial airlines had left the RAF for example, quite literally in the dark. Quite why this happened seems to remain a mystery. Perhaps explained because the RAF were incredibly insular together with most of their senior officers with any flying experience, set in a mindset determined during WW1 to a large extent.
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