Gosport flying sites
Note: The map shows the location of the RNAS GOSPORT aerodrome.
GOSPORT see also FORT GEORGE
GOSPORT see also LEE-on-SOLENT FORESHORE
GOSPORT: Initially civil aerodrome as opposed to not being officially ‘on charge’ to military authorities, later Royal Naval Air Station in WW1, soon to become an RFC airfield until 1918, known as GRANGE AIRFIELD, until the RAF took it over in April 1918 and renamed it RAF GOSPORT.
(1945 HMS WOODPECKER for three days, then HMS SISKIN) Also known as GRANGE AIRFIELD (WW1), FORT GRANGE and FORT ROWNER
A MICHAEL T HOLDER GALLERY
Note: The article, here in two parts, was published in the Hampshire Telegraph on the 1st July 1910
The eighth item, a newspaper article, was published in the Portsmouth Evening News on the 10th June 1914.
This ninth item, a Notice, was published in the Retford and Worksop Herald and North Notts Advertiser on the 23rd June 1914. The eleventh item, another newspaper article, was published in the Hampshire Telegraph on the 8th July 1938. The tenth item, a picture, was published in Flight magazine on the 14th August 1924 and relates to the King's Cup Air Race being held here on the 12th August. The two aerial photos, the fifth and ninth itiems, were obtained from the San Diego Air and Space Museum in the USA.
This fourteenth item, another newspaper article, was published in the Portsmouth Evening News on the 7th June 1939. I have added the Google Earth © local area and area views from my database.
Civil users: 1910 to 1914: Hampshire Flying Club, (also called Hampshire Aero Club which seems more likely?) Some say formed in 1911
Post 1945: Aviation Servicing
Military users: WW1: RNAS Station (1914)
RFC/RAFD Training Squadron Station and School (1914 to 1919)
17 Sqdn (Royal Aircraft Factory BE.2c?)
22 Sqdn (Royal Aircraft Factory FE.2b)
Note: Avro 504s were also stationed here.
RFC 6th Home Defence Wing Flight Station (1916 to 1918)
28 Sqdn (Royal Aircraft Factory FE.2bs)
29 Sqdn (Airco DH.2s)
60 Sqdn (Morane-Saulnier Type L perhaps?)
RNAS No.421 Fleet Spotter Reconnaissance Flight Torpedo Development Section
41 Sqdn (Vickers FB.5s, Airco DH.2s & Royal Aircraft Factory FE.8s)
Note: It appears Bristol Scouts were also seen here.
WW2: RN Fleet Air Arm: Catapult Training
Fleet Air Arm: Air Torpedo Development Unit & Torpedo Training School (1940 to 1956)
RAF Coastal Command
86 Sqdn (Bristol Blenheims)
Torpedo Training Unit No.2 Anti-Aircraft Co-operation Unit
It seems that during WW2 many other types were seen here, including: Boulton Paul Defiants, Bristol Beaufighters, Fairey Barracuda and Swordfish, Hawker Hurricanes, Lockheed Hudsons and Vickers-Supermarine Spitfires.
1950s: 705 Sqdn (Westland Dragonfly helicopters)
Location: Situated between Fort Grange and Fort Rowner on the south and west side of Portsmouth harbour, roughly 1.5nm NW of Gosport town centre and 4nm WNW to NW of Portsmouth City centre
Period of operation: 1910 to 1956
Site area: WW1: 270 acres 1326 x 731
Runways: WW2: NNW/SSE 487x46 hard NE/SW 549x46 hard
Note:According to the excellent Hampshire Airfields web-site, the two hard runways were "abandoned" in 1940, and replaced by four grass runways. Perhaps the only example in WW2 of grass runways replacing hard?
18/36 1372 grass 05/23 549 grass 08/26 487 grass
12/30 1143 grass
SOME VERY USEFUL HISTORY
In September 2021 Mike Holder also found this information concerning GOSPORT from the History of Grange Airfield - Gosport Heritage Open Days. But, I cannot seem to discover the name of the author.
"From around 1908, interest had sprung up in the possibilities of flying machines, and in April 1910, a local group of aviation enthusiasts (The Hampshire Aero Club) obtained permission from the War Department to gain use of the open area at Fort Grange 'for experiments in aeronautical science'. This would have been 'the polo ground' (what is now HMS Sultan's sports field south of Fort Grange, between Military Road, Browndown Road and Grange Road). At that time, activities were not much more than some of the club members towing an unpowered set of wings carrying a 'pilot', and flying some model aeroplanes."
"Two members of the club, naval lieutenants.......Lt Porte RN and Lt Pirie RN, built an experimental biplane at Grange in 1909, using a JAP motor-cycle engine made by local entrepreneur Vic Hutfield. A flight was attempted from Portsdown Hill on 17th September 1909, but it crashed before actually taking off, with the two lieutenants being thrown out of the aircraft, although no injuries were sustained; the project was abandoned after this disappointing result."
My note: The fact that they were attempting to fly a machine such as this carrying two people, clearly indicates they had very little idea of what they were attempting to do. Lt Porte certainly went on to achieve great things in aviation, especially regarding flying boat developments.
"Soon afterwards, in November 1909, two more naval lieutenants, from Gosport submarine base at Blockhouse, being Lt Cochrane and Lt Stocks, built another aircraft at Blockhouse (presumably), and it was taken to Grange for a trial flight. Unfortunately, upon takeoff, the plane got entangled in the starting tackle, and crashed, and was badly damaged."
My note: Such a common story of course, most early flight attempts ended up, even if they did get briefly airborne, in a tangled mess of wreckage, but due to the low speeds and lack of height, most of them survived - often without serious injury.
"During 1909/10, Vic Hutfield teamed up with three other gentlemen to form the 'RAS Aeroplane Co. Gosport', using their names as the initials (Reader, Allen and Sheffield), Vic Hutfield tried out his own-build monoplane at Grange. He also built the first aircraft hangar at the site in which to house his own aircraft. The monoplane was ready for testing at Grange in July 1910. Several flights got off the ground but landings were rather unsuccessful, with Grange field being unlevel, with potholes and puddles, and damage included breaking the propellor [sic]."
"After awaiting a new propellor for months, when it arrived it had been badly made and couldn't be used. Later on, after much fiddling about, a young lad offered to fly the plane, and it flew for several hundred yards, probably because of the light weight of the lad, who later became Air Vice Marshall Lywood."
The author of the article tells us: "I believe that the monoplane had been built elsewhere, and had been brought to Gosport by train, although I'm not certain of that, despite other aircraft managing to fly before this, Vic's plane is believed to have been the first to take off unassisted, (certainly in Britain); previous successful flights having had the assistance of being towed, or propelled into the air, other than the American Wright brothers flight in 1903."
My note: What a can of worms this subject reveals. This author is quite mistaken, the first Wright brothers flight was assisted by weights - in effect a catapult launch along rails. A method they used for several years after. We probably will never know who was the first to use wheels? But, without too much doubt, it was perhaps Santos Dumont who used a wheeled aircraft to fly in Paris during 1906.
"In 1911, Graham Gilmour successfully flew a Bristol biplane from Haslar sea wall, (one of his many flying demonstrations), but was killed in a flying accident on 17th February 1912 when his plane crashed in the Old Deer Park in Richmond. He was only 27." (My note: SW London. It seems no other aeroplanes were seen in the Gosport area until WW1?)
"In 1913, the airship 'Gamma 11' was tethered in the dry moat at Fort Grange between 15 and 19 June; this could have been the time when King George V visited Grange, and was taken for a trip over the Isle of Wight."
WW1
This article goes on to say: "Perhaps it was seen as inevitable that World War 1, (not known as that until after WW2), was imminent, as in February 1914, work began to construct an airfield on the open area adjacent to Forts Grange and Rowner for use by the Royal Flying Corps (RFC). The first RFC aircraft to use Grange Airfield, as it became known, arrived on 6 July 1914. They only stayed for a few weeks, as 'The Great War' began on 28 July, so they no doubt were sent to France."
"No further use of the airfield occurred until the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) made an appearance in October 1914; their aircraft remained for around three months." (My note: I think it was this early in WW1 that the RNAS were given the responsibility of defending the British Isles?)
"The RFC returned on 6 January 1915, and the airfield remained under their control until 1 April 1918, at which time the newly formed Royal Air Force (RAF) took over, and Grange Airfield became RAF Gosport."
SOMETHING WELL WORTH MENTIONING
"A significant event in 1917 was Robert Raymond Smith-Barry's invention of a speaking tube, whereby the pilot could communicate with a trainee pilot, at the School of Special Flying, which was at Grange Airfield, being formed from 1 Squadron (reserve), of which Smith-Barry had been the commander since returning from action in France in December 1916. He'd been concerned about the lack of flying skills of British pilots in France, and developed his own teaching methods."
This 'speaking tube' soon became known as 'The Gosport Tube' and was still in use in basic trainers such as the Tiger Moth and Magister during WW2. And, probably for many years later. The invention of an electrical 'inter-com' changed everything of course.
THE AIR TORPEDO DEVELOPMENT UNIT
It appears this was established in 1940, and remained until 1956. "Some of this torpedo work involved Fairey Swordfish biplanes dropping experimental torpedoes into Stokes Bay, wherefrom the torpedoes would be retreived by launches based at Stokes Bay Pier, which the Admiralty had purchased (or leased) from the LSWR after the closure of the railway line on 30th October 1915."
NOTES: As so often in researching this Guide the first official record crops up in the Pilot Certificate records of the period. In this case on 18/8/15 Lieut. Sydney Herbert Bywater Harris gained his Pilot Certificate No.1687 flying a Maurice Farman biplane but I’ve since discovered that it seems some RN officers attempted an unsuccessful flight in 1909 with a pusher biplane they’d designed and constructed.
A MEMOIR
I think this is worth quoting from Fighter Heroes of WW1 by Joshua Levine, an excellent book: "Once the pupil had taken his ticket, he usually went to an advanced training school, to prepare for flying in action. Reginald Fulljames followed this path": ‘I was selected for fighter pilot training and I was sent to the Advanced School of Flying at Gosport. One morning, I was surprised to hear that the commanding officer wanted to take me up. This shook me because you seldom had any dual control after you’d gone solo. The commanding officer was the famous Smith-Barry and I suppose he was using me as one of his early guinea pigs, trying out his new ideas.’
I imagine you are equally surprised to learn that even after the middle of WW1 trainee pilots ‘seldom had any dual control after you’d gone solo’. Small wonder then that in WW1 over half of the 14,166 pilots who died, did so in training. Joshua Levine explains; “Major Robert Smith-Barry revolutionised flying training from late 1916 onwards. He had noticed that flyers who arrived on the Western Front were often hesitant and diffident in their approach to flying. This approach, he reasoned, must have been learnt from the instructors, who viewed instructing as a dead-end job. Smith-Barry aimed to revitalize teaching. He insisted that all pupils under dual training should sit in the pilot’s seat in front of the full set of controls. He developed the ‘Gosport tube’, which enabled the instructor to communicate with the pupil during the flight. (My note: Still in use on basic trainers in WW2). He believed that a pilot, having flown solo, needed to learn advanced manoeuvres such as sudden turns and the correct way to recover from a spin.”
A STARTLING DISCOVERY
Hearing this doesn’t altogether surprise me but I am reluctant to believe that such techniques were not at least generally taught before pilots were dispatched to the Western Front up to late 1916? This said, if it is correct then no wonder so many failed to survive their first week in action, many being killed on their first sortie of course. Joshua Levine gives one such example quoted from the diary of Harold Wyllie in April 1915, an observer with 6 Squadron stationed in France: ‘Clarke was dreadfully smashed here today. Ross Hume was pilot and somehow managed to side slip and nose dive to the ground. This is wrong. Ross Hume stalled his machine turning. He was a rotten pilot and should never have been allowed to carry a passenger. Clarke died at 11.50 pm without regaining consciousness, thank God.’ The use of the word ‘passenger’ is interesting. Does this infer Clarke was engaged in non-flying duties?
Perhaps so because he makes no mention of this being a combat sortie. Many accounts exist of pilots crashing when attempting to land after a combat mission, perhaps badly shot up, perhaps badly injured, in shock etc. This said, virtually none of the most basic rules concerning ‘how to fly’ and ‘how aircraft work and fly’ had been fully established. Indeed, a couple of aces in WW1 died in circumstances involving crashes which closely resemble ignoring the most basic ‘don’t do’ rules taught today to student pilots.
SCHOOL OF SPECIAL FLYING
Another mention I have come across during WW1 is the existence of the “School of Special Flying” at GOSPORT. Perhaps somebody can kindly expand on this? (see above).
A VISIT BY LINDBERGH
Without any reasonable doubt the most famous aircraft to visit GOSPORT was the Ryan NYP Spirit of St. Louis NX-211 piloted by Charles A Lindberg who had just flown across the Atlantic solo, arriving from CROYDON on the 31st May 1927. There is quite a lot behind this, told by Walter S Ross in his book The Last Hero. “He wanted to return to the United States by air, flying the Spirit of St. Louis eastwards across Europe and Asia to the Bering Strait, thence via Alaska and Canada back to his starting place at Roosevelt Field. He had been studying maps and was convinced that the flight was feasible.”
How he had imagined the landing grounds with provisions of fuel and oil could be established so soon is not explained. “However, the Ambassador explained that the United States government had other ideas. President Calvin Coolidge had decided to send the cruiser Memphis, flagship of the U.S. European Fleet, to take Lindbergh and his plane back to the United States. Lindbergh at first objected. It would insult his plane, he said, to carry it back in a box across the ocean it had so gallantly spanned. The Ambassador reminded Lindbergh that he was a captain in the Reserve, and that Coolidge was his Commander in Chief – but, of course, returning by ship was not an order, merely advice. Lindbergh got the point, and gave up his plans to fly around the rest of the world.”
A QUESTION?
The DH.60 Moth G-EBQW was registered to Charles R.W. Pugh of Gosport in 1930. Was it kept at the military aerodrome or did he base it elsewhere? Can anybody expand on this?
AN ACCOUNT BY DON ROBERTSON
In his book The Urge To Fly Don Robertson gives this account of GOSPORT in 1940: “Having completed the Fighter Course, (My note; at EASTLEIGH), we were sent over to Gosport, an old RAF grass aerodrome of the first war situated near Portsmouth. The Navy had special permission to use it for the training in the use of catapults, in this case, one which had been removed from HMS Hood and installed permanently on a concrete base. The catapult has a barrel and breech very similar to a Naval gun, but the barrel is a cylinder with a piston instead of a shell. This is connected by various cables and sheaves to pull a small trolley on which is mounted the aircraft which gives the aircraft very great acceleration as it reaches about 60 milesan hour in about 90 feet. This approximates to the minimum flying speed but as the catapult in a ship is perhaps 40 feet above the water the aircraft, which is at full power, can gather further speed after release by sinking slightly towards the water.”
I think the message is pretty clear here? After launching at GOSPORT the trainee pilots didn’t have this option. In my flying career I was invariably something of a coward and rarely except in still conditions opting to climb out at minimum speed. Always opting to climb out at a speed well in excess of minimum flying speed – to give more control authority if some turbulence should be encountered. “There are various types of propellant but cordite is good as it pushes harder and harder as it nears the end of its throw, whereas compressed air does the opposite. The acceleration is just enough to make one black out temporarily and providing no mechanical failure occurs, the sensation is not unpleasant.”
“While I was sitting in the aircraft waiting to be shot off, an RAF corporal came round to the side of the cockpit and showed me a couple of white sacks on a tray, rather like a waiter bringing a specially cooked chicken for your approval in a good restaurant. Never having seen cordite before I did not know what was going on until afterwards when I made enquiries. It seemed that there had been an unpopular commanding officer at Gosport at some time in the past who, having decided to give a demonstration of catapulting to a course under instruction, mounted his aircraft. Someone had decided to get his own back, however, and increased the cordite charge so that the aircraft went off with a tremendous kick – after which station orders were amended; all pilots were to be shown the charge before being catapulted off!”
I’m so sorry, please excuse me. The delay in getting on with this ‘Guide’ is quite simply because I was nearly on the floor and almost wetting myself laughing after reading this.
A SMALL DETAIL
The WW2 listing for this aerodrome, (albeit in 1944), is very unusual if not unique in not giving exact magnetic headings for two the hard runways. Was there a reason for this? Records indicate that in 1944 there were 2604 RAF personnel based here including a unusually large number of 730 WAAFs. Obviously this was a significant aerodrome especially by RAF Coastal Command standards during WW2.
A DARING RESCUE
In his excellent book Phoenix Squadron Rowland White tells this largely forgotten story: “In January 1952, a pair of Westland Dragonflies of 705 NAS departed Gosport in appalling weather in an effort to provide assistance to the American freighter MV Flying Enterprise, broken-backed and adrift south-west of Ireland. The ship’s plight, and particularly the bravery of her captain, Kurt Carlsen, had gripped the nation. One of the little piston-engined helicopters made it no further than Exeter airport before becoming unserviceable. The pilot of the second, Lieutenant Commander Suthers, refuelled at RNAS Culdrose on Cornwall’s Lizzard Peninsular, then took off in 50-knot winds in the hope that it might be possible to rescue the two men still aboard the listing, sinking Flying Enterprise. Suthers was only ten miles west of Land’s End when he realized the Dragonfly simply had no chance of making it to the stricken ship and back and, regretfully, turned for home.”
“The Royal Navy’s Search and Rescue squadrons had come a long way since that first brave, but hopeless, mercy mission. In 1971 they operated the Westland Wessex. An American design built under license in Britain, the Wessex was an admirable workhorse and a massive step forward from the Whirlwinds and first-generation Dragonflies it replaced. And it was only twenty years since the Dragonfly itself had replaced the last Supermarine Sea Otter biplane flying boats. But the twin-engined Westland Sea King HAS1, introduced to service with the Navy’s anti-submarine squadrons in 1969, represented a step change in what was possible.”
“Examples of the Sea King’s extraordinary range and carrying capacity soon began to pile up.” Mr White then gives an example appertaining to the period his book is concerned with. “….on 8 October 1971, when, while steaming between Singapore and the Philippines on her farewell cruise…..HMS Eagle received an SOS from the SS Steel Vendor, an American merchantman that had run aground on an uncharted reef in the South China Sea. Despite filthy weather trailing three regional typhoons, two Sea Kings from 826 Naval Air Squadron were launched and managed to winch the entire forty-man crew to safety.”
It will always be a mystery to me that the last version of the Sea King has not been mandated as being the only helicopter suitable for use in supplying crews to North Sea oil rigs.
GOSPORT? Early 'gliding' site
NOTES: I love this rare picture, sent to me by a good friend who is sadly no longer with us. Therefore I cannot ask him if he had any idea where the picture was taken - which is possible such was his knowledge of aviation history. It was on a postcard dated 1946 but that of course does not indicate when it was produced. However, in the handwritten text on back of the postcard this information is provided: "1909 - Mr Patrick J Alexanders memoir of teaching boys flight was possible at low speeds. The machines were constructed of broomsticks, canvas and wire by Chief Petty Officer, (name unreadable), at Gosport."
This certainly seems to indicate the possibility that the site might have been a school playing field, and presumably somewhere in the vicinity of Gosport and Portsmouth. In those days Samuel Cody was making many demonstrations of 'man carrying kites' so presumably this gave rise to these 'experiments. Note that the 'passenger' has no controls with which to control the flight. Can anybody add to this?
GOSPORT: Civil water aerodrome (possibly also known as STOKES BAY?)
User: Gosport Aviation Co Ltd
Location: This site appears to be in the narrow channel between Gosport and Portsmouth
Period of operation: 1918 only?
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