UK airfields in 1920
On the 4th August 1920, The Aeroplane published a list of aerodromes in the UK which, including seaplane and flying boat stations. This list includes military airfields that allow visits by civilian aircraft.
This list amply illustrates the dramatic reduction in flying sites operating during WW1, of which over a thousand are included in this 'Guide'. It was of course a period when the UK was struggling to get back on its knees! Also, this situation certainly applied to civilian operations, across the board from the first beginnings of civil airline operations to those few private owners. It was a period when, with a large number of pilots and ground crew available, who had acquired a love of being involved in aviation, and wishing to continue in 'civvy street', looked around for the few opportunities that were opening up.
NOTES: We have Mr Mike Holder, a great friend of this 'Guide', to thank for discovering these very interesting listings. Mike served as a navigator in the RAF for many years, flying in Vulcans, Comets and lastly Nimrods. Being a navigator I imagine, there can be nothing much more interesting (?) than very basic Lat. and Long. fixes. Be that the case or not, Mike decided to have a look to see how these figures shaped up, and found that in many if not most cases, they were wide of the mark.
We do not know, (or will ever find out?), who was responsible for such sloppy work. I very much doubt it was anybody at The Aeroplane though? Anyway, to be of any use the 'fix' should be at the centre of an aerodrome if used by pilots/navigators. For obvious reasons. The map of Croydon airport gives an example, but, in this case it would of course still have resulted in the airport being found.....it was big enough anyway. Note that the original Croydon (Waddon) airport was on the WW1 site.
A couple of other examples are the flying ground just east of Trent Lane in Nottingham, which shows the location being south of the river Trent - not north. The second showing the flying ground at Uckington being in the river Chelt! And no, this was most definitely not a seaplane station.
