Great West Aerodrome
GREAT WEST AERODROME: Civil aerodrome (also known originally as HARMONDSWORTH and later as HEATHROW, later as the central site of LONDON AIRPORT – now known as HEATHROW)
Note: This picture from a postcard was kindly sent by Mike Charlton who has an amazing collection. See, www.aviationpostcard.co.uk
This picture was taken of the Battle as it passes over the Fairey hangar. The prototype K4303 first flew on the 10th March 1936 and went into service later that same year. The type was flown extensively in Northern France at the beginning of WW2 and suffered appalling losses - up to 50% on a single sortie - and was quickly withdrawn from front line use after the defeat of the British Expeditionary Forces. Ending in the famous retreat from Dunkerque (Dunkirk).
Manufacturing: 1930 to 1944: Fairey Aviation Company (final assembly & flight testing only)
Location: Roughly 1.5nm SSW of Hayes, W of Hatton and NW of East Bedfont, now part of the central area HEATHROW AIRPORT complex
Period of operation: Early 1930s to 1947. Marked on a chart published in 1935 as HEATHROW
Runways: Probably an ‘all-over’ grass airfield, initially at least in 1934, of 190 acres
NOTES: On the 7th January 1933 it seems Bert Hinkler took off from here in his DH.80A Puss Moth Karohi (CF-APK), for Australia…and disappeared. He’d been meticulously preparing his aircraft at HENDON and if you Google up ‘Hinkler Karohi’ you should find some fascinating details. Especially those provided by Flight magazine. The wreckage and Hinklers remains were later found on the 28th April 1933, in mountains near Florence, in Italy
A PICTURE
In the Museum of Berkshire Aviation there is a superb aerial photograph showing the ‘Garden Party’ with about thirty five aircraft lined up, including many unusual types and a KLM DC-2. Possibly taken in 1934? Perhaps the KLM DC-2 was the same one, (released for promotional duties?), which competed later that year in the famous MacPherson Robertson England to Australia International Air Race from MILDENHALL in SUFFOLK?
In his excellent book ‘Taking to the Skies’ Graham Smith ventures the opinion, (which seems certain to be correct?), that the increase in popularity of HANWORTH forced the Royal Aeronautical Society to seek another location. Deciding to hold their ‘Garden Party’ here in 1934 in agreement with Fairey who operated the site.
“It had become the foremost aviation gathering of the year attended by everybody of importance and fame in the aviation world. A wide range of aircraft were on display, from light planes to gliders, new military aircraft to civil airliners, and many gave flying displays. The aerodrome, some 190 acres, had been developed into a fine level and smooth grass airfield, with one of the hangars thought to be the largest in the world.”
OTHERS HAD OTHER IDEAS
Little did they know that that the Nazi party in Germany had bigger ideas and when the British were mostly unaware of the Tempelhof airport terminal in Berlin which fully opened in the mid 1930s. Still claimed when I and a dear pilot friend flew in, in a Cessna 172, during 2008 just before closing forever, as being the second largest ‘stand-alone’ building in the world after the Pentagon in Washington, USA. About two thirds of this building was dedicated to hangar space! I have been in one of the hangars and it was huge, quite incredibly huge, especially considering when it was built. The concept was that airliners could taxy into a fully enclosed area, out of the weather, for the convenience of passengers.
GETTING BACK
Anyway, lets not nit pick. “The Garden Party was held on the 8th May and over 2,000 attended, many had arrived by air with the omnipresent Moths in the majority. The Aeroplane (or rather the editor Charles Grey?) was most impressed, “….[it] was a success in every way, in entertainment, in atmosphere, in setting and in weather….strawberries and cream in the shade of the marquees….fashionable ladies in elegant dresses…the central Band of the RAF providing suitable music…the steady drone of aeroplanes overhead….the English aviation scene at its peaceful best.”
Am I being too cynical in thinking the contributing pilots, being ‘turns’ or ‘exhibits’ at such events were indulged, there to amuse and entertain mostly? This venue was certainly popular for holding Royal Aeronautical Society Garden Parties, from 1934 to 1939, but does anybody now know how many were held here?
A.A. ‘SCOUTS’
In the 1920s and 1930s the Automobile Association provided a whole range of services to private aviators – who were of course mostly of wealth and privilege in society. The A.A. in conjuction with the Royal Aero Club could provide maps and charts to pretty much anywhere in the world, en-route services, and even operated their own remote airstrips with a message box where pilots could leave a note, soon to be collected by a passing A.A. patrolman who would relay information by telephone – probably from a nearby A.A. telephone box which would contain useful materials and information to motorists who were members. They also provided a ‘Guide’ of A.A. approved landing sites within the UK giving recommendations of where to stay, providers of fuel and/or a taxi service and where the nearest telephone was situated.
You never stop learning! By 2014 I had reckoned that the A.A. story was pretty much nailed, until I read Tiger Moth by Stuart McKay. In a picture caption he says: “A feature of UK light aviation pre-war was the involvement of the Automobile Association who not only provided maps and charts and an en-route service, but AA “scouts” who attended flying meetings. Their routine included picketing and covering of aircraft, assistance with fuelling and starting, chocking and checking that pilot, passenger and aeroplane were ready for departure.”
In more recent years I have only once encountered a similar situation, and that was in Italy. I was invited to fly in an aircraft with the owner, for an air-test after repair, when collecting an aeroplane in my truck for export back to UK. Whilst waiting for the aircraft owner to arrive I had conducted a thorough pre-flight inspection. After waiting for the owner to finish a series of calls on his mobile, he inspected the contents of one fuel tank and then climbed in. With the engineer in the back taking considerable interest, as was I, his pre-take-off checks were at best perfunctory.
The pilot showed me where he lived, passing by his house in the town at below the level of the nearby church tower. Does this all sound very dodgy? I was very happy, this man knew how to fly, and being rich, fully expected and trusted his maintenance people – (who better?) – to make certain the aircraft was fit for purpose. By comparison in the UK, at a pretty early stage in my training, I was expected to perform the pre-flight checks satisfactorily
HAS THE A.A. FORGOTTEN ITS AVIATION HISTORY?
Rather oddly it seemed to me, when I contacted the Automobile Association for information regarding their involvement in aviation the response was both brusque and distinctly off-hand. Almost as if it was something the A.A. was ashamed of. All the records had been passed on to a third party, (I forget which), and, as I subsequently found, would cost a serious amount of money to access. Hopefully this situation will change.
A MENTION OF HEATHROW
In his exemplary autobiography The Urge To Fly Don Robertson has this story to tell: “One day a signal arrived at Boscombe, (My note – BOSCOMBE DOWN), for me to report to Air-Commodore Jones at the Ministry of Aircraft Production at Millbank. Intrigued, I flew up to Fairey’s private grass aerodrome at Heathrow and parked my Firefly there.” I think this is really quite important, referring to this site as HEATHROW, (in around 1943/4), rather than GREAT WEST AERODROME?
“Dixon, the Chief Test Pilot, kindly drove me as far as Osterley Park to catch the tube into London. On reporting to the Air Commodore we immediately, without explanation, set off by car for Heston where I used to fly in pre-war days. To my astonishment he then asked me if I considered the grass aerodrome there as being large enough for use by naval aircraft, which it obviously was. It was only later that it became known that Fairey’s Heathrow aerodrome had been commandeered under wartime legislation for conversion into a ‘bomber’ station! My little visit had been a yard-arm clearing operation in case the navy objected to Fairey’s, the chief contractor of naval aircraft, being moved out. As is well known, Faireys fought for fifteen years or so for compensation, finally receiving a pitiful sum for their valuable land. Vast sums were involved in turning the grass field into the present international airport, including the cost of filling a very large gravel pit where the approach tunnel from the motorway now is.”
Note: This picture was kindly provided by Mr Michael T Holder. The Fairey hangar and aerodrome can be clearly seen more or less in the centre of the picture.
HOW HEATHROW CAME INTO BEING
There are stories told about the huge subterfuge involved in setting up HEATHROW as ‘the’ LONDON AIRPORT during the latter stages of WW2. Claiming that it’s use as a potential ‘bomber base’ and/or military transport base was a cover to disguise the true intent. Why this should have been seen as necessary obviously indicates a serious schism within the powers that be in that era. It now appears certain that several far-sighted people had realised that London required, after WW2 had ended, an airport fit for purpose in the post-war era. See HEATHROW for evidence of how this was generally mis-managed and bungled despite the initial efforts of these exemplary people.
A SMALL DETAIL
It would appear that the hangar used by Fairey Aviation survived in the central area of HEATHROW for many years being latterly used by the Fire Service. Of interest perhaps, is that during a 1940 survey to judge the effectiveness of camouflage at airfields with aircraft production factories this aerodrome was referred to as HEATHROW.
A MICHAEL T HOLDER GALLERY
In mid July 2023, Mike Holder, a great friend of this 'Guide', decided to see what else he could find concerning this aerodrome. And, has kindly provided a couple of maps.
The photo and caption is from Heathrow - 2000 Years of History by P T Sherwood. Photo Two is of Duncan Menzies, a test pilot for Fairey.
The article is from British Aviation 1930 by H Penrose. Photo Three of the Fairey Hendon was published in From Time Flies - The Heathrow Story by Alan Gallop.
A SMALL INSERT GALLERY OF SOME FAIREY AIRCRAFT TYPES
Photo Four of the Fairey Swordfish is also from "Time Flies....". Photo Five, of the Fairey Hendon, was obtained from The Aviation Historian. Photo Six is of the Fairey Battle prototype in 1936, from RAF Bomber Command. No excuse for including two pictures of a Swordfish, the last also being from The Aviation Historian, which is much loved at air shows even today. And of course, with so little to celebrate today in the U.K., especially since Brexit, we can at least cheer ourselves up remembering that the Swordfish nobbled the German battleship Bismark during WW2.
I find it very odd, but it is a fact that so many Brits still revert to thinking of ourselves as being a great nation. Well, yes, we once were, but not since WW2, and it might not be such a good idea to delve too deeply as to how we created an Empire.
I THINK I'VE GOT THIS RIGHT?
It was a great illustration of how British minds work, compared to the best of the German. The Royal Navy top brass had what might be regarded as utter contemp for anybody involved with aviation, so sending those Swordfish crews on a suicide mission barely bothered them. But it seems, the designers of the Bismark's gun ranging equipment, had dismissed the idea that nobody would be stupid enough to attack with aircraft flying so slowly. The story is, that in desperation they elevated the main guns to maximum elevation, hoping to hit them with huge water spouts. And that didn't work. One torpedo dropped from a Swordfish damaged the rudder steering gear, meaning that is was going around in circles. Ideal for the Royal Navy to close in to finish it off.
Photo Eight was also obtained from Heathrow - 2000 Years of History. This is an aerial photo of the R.Ae.S., (Royal Aeronautical Society), Garden Party in1935.
The article was published in Flight magazine on the 11th April 1935. Last but not least, this photo from the Imperial War Museum shows an Airspeed Horsa glider being rolled out for its first flight in 1941.
ANOTHER MAP
This Ordnance Survey map of 1930 shows the proximity of the three main aerodromes to the west of London. Note that the Great West Aerodrome is also shown as Heathrow on some maps. Hanworth is to the south-west and Heston is to the north-east.
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