London Elstree Aerodrome is a general aviation aerodrome located in Elstree, situated east of

Watford, Hertfordshire Watford () is a town and non-metropolitan district with borough status in Hertfordshire, England, northwest of Central London, on the banks of the River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construct ...

, England. Elstree Aerodrome has Civil Aviation Authority Ordinary Licence P486, which allows flights for the purpose of the public transport of passengers and for the purpose of instruction in flying. It is licensed for night flying. The licensee is Montclare Shipping Company Ltd. The aerodrome has one asphalt runway (08/26) aligned roughly east–west. The runway is in length making it suitable for most light aircraft up to the size of a King Air or

Pilatus PC-12 The Pilatus PC-12 is a pressurized, single-engined, turboprop aircraft manufactured by Pilatus Aircraft of Stans, Switzerland since 1991. It was designed as a high-performance utility aircraft that incorporates a large aft cargo door in addi ...

. The runway has a steep 9% gradient.

History

During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Westland Lysander The Westland Lysander is a British Army cooperation aircraft, army co-operation and liaison aircraft produced by Westland Aircraft that was used immediately before and during the Second World War. After becoming obsolete in the army co-operat ...

aircraft were tested at Elstree. Elstree also hosted a

Link Trainer The term Link Trainer, also known as the "Blue box" and "Pilot Trainer" is commonly used to refer to a series of flight simulators produced between the early 1930s and early 1950s by Link Aviation Devices, founded and headed by Ed Link, based o ...

flight simulator. 124 Gliding School was formed at Elstree in August 1943. The airfield is owned and operated by the

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, who have long been associated with the Elstree area.

Operations

The aerodrome was returned to civil aircraft operations in 1946. There is a large wartime built

Bellman hangar The Bellman Hangar was designed in the United Kingdom in 1936 by the Directorate of Works structural engineer, N. S. Bellman, as a temporary aircraft hangar capable of being erected or dismantled by unskilled labour with simple equipment and to b ...

and a number of smaller hangars. Residents include aeroplane and helicopter schools, charter companies and maintenance services. Some areas of the airfield are occasionally used for filming.

Airport information

Prior permission (PPR) is required to land. A flight information service for arriving, departing or transiting aircraft is provided by "Elstree Information" on the frequency of 122.405 MHz, and on the same frequency when required under the designation of "Elstree Radio" if the service requires downgrading due to staffing availability.

Accidents

References

Bibliography

*Richard Riding and Grant Peerless, ''Elstree Aerodrome: The Past in Pictures'', The History Press Ltd (26 November 2003), , , 192 pages.

External links

* *
Official Facebook site

Elstree Aerodrome
in 1986, at the BBC Domesday Project online, retrieved 22 Sep 2011 {{authority control Airports in England Airports in the London region Transport in Hertfordshire Aldenham