Bristol (Whitchurch) Airport Whitchurch Airport | |||||||||||
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![]() Part of the former runway can be seen in what is now Hengrove Park | |||||||||||
Summary | |||||||||||
Airport type | Defunct | ||||||||||
Owner | Bristol Corporation | ||||||||||
Operator | Bristol Airport Committee | ||||||||||
Serves | Bristol West of England Gloucestershire Somerset | ||||||||||
Location | Whitchurch, Bristol | ||||||||||
Built | 1930 | ||||||||||
In use | 1930 - 1957 | ||||||||||
Elevation AMSL | 200 ft / 61 m | ||||||||||
Coordinates | 51°24′46″N002°35′11″W / 51.41278°N 2.58639°W | ||||||||||
Map | |||||||||||
Runways | |||||||||||
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Statistics (1936) | |||||||||||
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Bristol (Whitchurch) Airport, also known as Whitchurch Airport, was a municipal airport in Bristol, England, three miles (5 km) south of the city centre, from 1930 to 1957. It was the main airport for Bristol and the surrounding area. During World War II, it was one of the few civil airports in Europe that remained operational, enabling air connections to Lisbon and Shannon and onwards to the United States.
The airport closed in 1957, with services transferred to the former RAF Lulsgate Bottom. The former airfield is now occupied by a sports centre, trading estates and retail parks. The South Bristol Community Hospital opened on the site in 2012.
In 1929, the Corporation of the City of Bristol bought 298 acres (1.21 km2) of farmland to the south of the city, near Whitchurch, for a new municipal airport. [2] On 31 May 1930, the airport was officially opened by Prince George, Duke of Kent. In its first year of operation, the airport handled 915 passengers, and by 1939 it handled 4,000 passengers. [2] The Bristol and Wessex Aeroplane Club relocated from Filton Airfield, [3] and together with Bristol Corporation, managed the facilities. [4] The first buildings were a hangar, a clubhouse for the flying club, and an aircraft showroom. [5]
Early services were an "air ferry" to Cardiff, operated by Norman Edgar & Co, [6] and flights to Torquay and Teignmouth. By 1932, two air taxi firms were based at the airport. [7] By 1934, Bristol Air Taxis was joined by Railway Air Services, a subsidiary of Imperial Airways, offering connections to Plymouth, Birmingham, London, Southampton and Liverpool. [8]
In July 1935, a new terminal building was opened, and regular international services started with flights on the Cardiff-Whitchurch-Le Touquet-Paris Le Bourget route. [9]
In 1936 Norman Edgar moved to the new airport at Weston-super-Mare. The company had been renamed Norman Edgar (Western Airways) Ltd, and in 1938 it was taken over by the Straight Corporation, headed by Whitney Straight who renamed it Western Airways, Ltd. [6]
In 1937, Irish Sea Airways (precursor of Aer Lingus), and Great Western and Southern Airlines commenced operations from Whitchurch. [10]
In July 1938, the Government formed a Civil Air Guard to train pilots for what was widely seen as the forthcoming war. [11] The Bristol and Wessex Aeroplane Club was one of the training organisations enlisted in this effort, [3] and in addition No. 33 Elementary and Reserve Flying Training School was established at Whitchurch to prepare RAFVR pilots. [12] In August 1938, Frank Barnwell, the chief designer of the Bristol Aeroplane Company, died when an ultralight monoplane he had designed and built himself, the Barnwell B.S.W., struck a bump when taking off and stalled, crashing onto a nearby road. [13]
In late August 1939, the airport was requisitioned by the Air Ministry, and was declared a Restricted Area. Starting on 1 September 1939, 59 aircraft belonging to Imperial Airways and British Airways Ltd were evacuated from Croydon Airport and Heston Aerodrome to Whitchurch. The two airlines, which were in the process of merging to form British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC), became the nucleus of National Air Communications (NAC), formed to undertake wartime air transport work. [14] Airport security was increased, with barbed wire fencing and Air Ministry police posts. During the next two years, an east–west tarmac runway and taxiways were constructed. [15] In late 1939, civilian flights resumed. [16] From September 1940, six aircraft of the Dutch airline KLM, which had escaped to Britain after the German invasion of the Netherlands, were also based at Whitchurch. These aircraft with their Dutch crews operated flights to Lisbon in neutral Portugal, under charter to BOAC. [17]
The Air Transport Auxiliary established No. 2 Ferry Pilots Pool ATA (FPP) at Whitchurch during 1940. No. 2 FPP was mainly concerned with ferrying Blenheims, Beaufighters and Beauforts built by the Bristol Aeroplane Company at Filton; Hurricanes built by the Gloster Aircraft Company at Brockworth, Gloucestershire and Whirlwinds and Spitfires produced by Westland Aircraft at Yeovil in Somerset. [18] The unit was disbanded in 1945.
During 1942–1943, civil services were developed to Shannon Airport and an extension of the Lisbon route to Gibraltar, with Lisbon and Shannon providing connections to the United States. Famous passengers who used these services included Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands and Eleanor Roosevelt. [19] On 1 June 1943, BOAC Flight 777 was shot down en route to Whitchurch from Lisbon, with the loss of four Dutch crew and 13 passengers, including the actor Leslie Howard. [20]
In November 1944, BOAC moved out to Hurn Airport, Bournemouth, because the runways there were capable of accommodating larger aircraft, and the success of the Invasion of Normandy had lessened the danger from the Luftwaffe. [21]
After the war, the airport came under the control of the Ministry of Civil Aviation. A number of flying clubs used the airport but it did not attract many scheduled services; from 1953, Morton Air Services operated flights to the Channel Islands, the Isle of Wight and the Isle of Man, whilst Cambrian Airways operated both domestic and international flights to France. [22]
The airport had become too small for airline operations, with surrounding housing estates limiting runway extension, so a new site at the former RAF Lulsgate Bottom was opened in May 1957 as Bristol Airport. [23] In 1957, flying ceased at Whitchurch, and in 1959 the airfield was re-opened as Whitchurch Circuit, a car racing circuit holding Formula Two and Formula Three races. Over the years, the area has been developed as housing and trading estates known as Hengrove Park, although part of the main runway still exists. [24]
In 1993, a Cessna 152 aircraft made an emergency landing there, short of fuel. [25]
In 2009, it was announced that part of the former airfield was to be developed as South Bristol Community Hospital, a Skills Academy and a leisure centre. [26]
Imperial Airways was an early British commercial long-range airline, operating from 1924 to 1939 and principally serving the British Empire routes to South Africa, India, Australia and the Far East, including Malaya and Hong Kong. Passengers were typically businessmen or colonial administrators, and most flights carried about 20 passengers or fewer. Accidents were frequent: in the first six years, 32 people died in seven incidents. Imperial Airways never achieved the levels of technological innovation of its competitors and was merged into the British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) in 1939. BOAC in turn merged with the British European Airways (BEA) in 1974 to form British Airways.
Croydon Airport was the UK's only international airport during the interwar period. It opened in 1920, located in Croydon, then part of Surrey. Built in a Neoclassical style, it was developed as Britain's main airport, handling more cargo, mail, and passengers than any other UK airport at the time. Innovations at the site included the world's first air traffic control and the first airport terminal. During World War II the airport was named RAF Croydon as its role changed to that of a fighter airfield during the Battle of Britain; and in 1943 RAF Transport Command was founded at the site, which used the airport to transport thousands of troops into and out of Europe.
The Bristol Type 175 Britannia is a retired British medium-to-long-range airliner built by the Bristol Aeroplane Company in 1952 to fly across the Commonwealth. During development two prototypes were lost and the turboprop engines proved susceptible to inlet icing, which delayed entry into service while solutions were sought.
British Airways Ltd was a British airline company operating in Europe in the period 1935–1939. It was formed in 1935 by the merger of Spartan Air Lines Ltd, United Airways Ltd, and Hillman's Airways. Its corporate emblem was a winged lion.
Bristol Airport, at Lulsgate Bottom, on the northern slopes of the Mendip Hills, in North Somerset, is an international airport serving the city of Bristol, England, and the surrounding area. It is 7 nautical miles southwest of Bristol city centre. Built on the site of a former RAF airfield, it opened in 1957 as Bristol (Lulsgate) Airport, replacing Bristol (Whitchurch) Airport as Bristol's municipal airport. From 1997 to 2010, it was known as Bristol International Airport. In 1997, a majority shareholding in the airport was sold to FirstGroup, and then in 2001 the airport was sold to a joint venture of Macquarie Bank and others. In September 2014, Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan bought out Macquarie to become the sole owner.
Filton Airport or Filton Aerodrome was a private airport in Filton and Patchway, within South Gloucestershire, 4 NM north of Bristol, England.
Whitchurch is a village in north Somerset, England and an adjoining suburb of southern Bristol, bounded by Hartcliffe to the west and Hengrove and Knowle to the north. The suburb was initially developed during the 1930s.
The de Havilland DH.91 Albatross was a four-engined British transport aircraft of the 1930s manufactured by de Havilland Aircraft Company Limited. Seven aircraft were built between 1938 and 1939.
The Armstrong Whitworth A.W.27 Ensign was a British four-engine monoplane airliner and the largest airliner built in Britain during the Interwar period.
Heston Aerodrome was an airfield located to the west of London, England, operational between 1929 and 1947. It was situated on the border of the Heston and Cranford areas of Hounslow, Middlesex. In September 1938, the British Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlain, flew from Heston to Germany three times in two weeks for talks with Adolf Hitler, and returned to Heston from the Munich Conference with the paper referred to in his later "Peace for our time" speech from 10 Downing Street.
BOAC Flight 777A was a KLM flight scheduled as a British Overseas Airways Corporation civilian airline flight from Portela Airport in Lisbon, Portugal to Whitchurch Airport near Bristol, England. On 1 June 1943, the Douglas DC-3 serving the flight was attacked by eight German Junkers Ju 88 bombers and crashed into the Bay of Biscay, killing all 17 on board. There were several notable passengers, among them actor Leslie Howard.
The Airways flying club was formed in 1948 under the name of the Airways Aero Club, by employees of British European Airways (BEA) and British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC). The club is operated by Airways Aero Associations Ltd, and flies out of Wycombe Air Park.
Sir Archibald Russell, CBE, FRS was a British aerospace engineer who worked most of his career at the Bristol Aeroplane Company, before becoming managing director of the Filton Division when Bristol merged into British Aircraft Corporation in 1960. He also served as the vice-chairman of the BAC-Sud Aviation Concorde Committee that produced the Concorde, working alongside Morien Morgan. His designs include the Blenheim, Britannia, Type 188 and many others. He was known throughout his career as a perfectionist, as well as his criticism for those who did not measure up – criticisms that included ministers, civil servants, the Brabazon Committee and BOAC.
Lympne Airport was a military and later civil airfield, at Lympne, Kent, United Kingdom, which operated from 1916 to 1984. During the First World War RFC Lympne was originally an acceptance point for aircraft being delivered to, and returning from, France but was later designated as a First Class Landing Ground, RAF Lympne. It became a civil airfield in 1919 and saw the operation of early air mail services after the 1918 armistice. It was one of the first four airfields in the United Kingdom with customs facilities.
Royal Air Force Weston-super-Mare, or more simply RAF Weston-super-Mare, is a former Royal Air Force station which was located on a civilian airfield in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, England.
National Air Communications was a British government organisation that directed civilian flying operations from the outbreak of World War II until April 1940.
British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) was the British state-owned airline created in 1939 by the merger of Imperial Airways and British Airways Ltd. It continued operating overseas services throughout World War II. After the passing of the Civil Aviation Act 1946, European and South American services passed to two further state-owned airlines, British European Airways (BEA) and British South American Airways (BSAA). BOAC absorbed BSAA in 1949, but BEA continued to operate British domestic and European routes for the next quarter century. The Civil Aviation Act 1971 merged BOAC and BEA, effective 31 March 1974, forming today's British Airways.
Western Airways was an airline based in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, England between 1932 and 1978. Before World War II, for a short period, it was the world's busiest airline. It survived WWII by using its aircraft engineering expertise.