Tiverton flying sites
Note: This map only shows the position of Tiverton town within the UK.
TIVERTON see also WEST BATSWORTHY FARM
TIVERTON: Temporary Landing Ground
NOTES: On the 5th June 1912, the famous French aviator Henri Salmet visited Tiverton. See the listing TIVERTON ATHLETIC GROUND for more information.
TIVERTON: Temporary aerodrome
NOTES: Used by the Berkshire Aviation Co in May 1922. Is anything now known about this venue?
TIVERTON: Temporary aerodrome
Note: This picture from the Phillips family was scanned from the excellent book, Cornwall Aviation Company, by Ted Chapman published in 1979. It shows their 1909 Argyll van with solid tyres and the Avro 504K G-EBIZ. It is not known when or where this picture was taken but it is highly indicative of the fairly rudimentary circumstances they operated under. Regular maintenance on the aircraft was undertaken out in the open, although it seems a spare engine was carried in the van.
NOTES: In 1925 the Cornwall Aviation Company, based at St Austell embarked on a West Country tour during the summer. It appears that they only toured around Cornwall in 1924, their first year of operation. The pilot was Capt. Percival Phillips who, along with his Licensed Ground Engineer A J Adams, had founded the company. Capt. Phillips stayed in local accommodation, (he had a motorcyle also visible in the photograph), but the ground crew slept in the van, sometimes in a tent, stationed alongside the aircraft.
For publicity Capt. Philips would often loop-the-loop over the town and local worthies and newspaper reporters would be offered free flights to promote the event. It was quite common for local newspapers to run competitions for free flights and it seems this boosted circulation figures considerably - even to the point of selling out.
The fare was 5 shillings per passenger, but braver souls could pay 15 shillings for a loop or £1 for a spin. It appears that women often outnumbered the men queueing for a flight. It is also worth mentioning that seat-belts weren't worn in those days. They weren't actually needed for these basic aerobatics as they were all performed under positive 'G' - but even so!
It seems that 280 passengers were carried whilst at Tiverton but I do not know how long they stayed. The greatest number of passengers in one day during this Tour was 170 at Bath. If anybody can kindly offer advice regarding the location they used, this will be much appreciated.
TIVERTON: Military airstrip
Military user: US First Army ‘VII’ Corps, 4th Infantry Division Artillery HQ
Location: Airstrip site not known?
Period of operation: 1944/5 only?
NOTES: It appears that twelve Piper L-4 Grasshoppers and two Stinson L-5 Sentinels were based here. This was mostly I assume, during the run up to the D-Day invasion.
TIVERTON: Balloon Festival
NOTES: Driving through Tiverton in 2014 I noticed many adverts for this event, planned to take place from the 11th to the 12th July 2014.
Was this a 'one-off' or do these regularly take place? It appears that another balloon festival took place in 2015 but the 2016 event was cancelled.
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