Stapleford Aerodrome is an operational

general aviation General aviation (GA) is defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as all civil aviation aircraft operations except for commercial air transport or aerial work, which is defined as specialized aviation services for other ...

aerodrome An aerodrome, airfield, or airstrip is a location from which aircraft flight operations take place, regardless of whether they involve air cargo, passengers, or neither, and regardless of whether it is for public or private use. Aerodromes inc ...

in the

Epping Forest Epping Forest is a area of ancient woodland, and other established habitats, which straddles the border between Greater London and Essex. The main body of the forest stretches from Epping in the north, to Chingford on the edge of the Lond ...

district of

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

, England, near the village of

Abridge Abridge is a village in Essex, England. It is on the River Roding, southwest of the county town of Chelmsford. The village is in the district of Epping Forest and in the parliamentary constituency of Brentwood and Ongar. It is part of the civi ...

. It is about south of

North Weald Airfield North Weald Airfield is an operational general aviation aerodrome, in the civil parish of North Weald Bassett in Epping Forest, Essex, England. It was an important fighter station during the Battle of Britain, when it was known as the RAF Stat ...

and north of

Romford Romford is a large List of places in London, town in east London, east London, England, located northeast of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Havering, the town is one of the major Metropolitan centres of London, metropolitan centr ...

. The airfield is just within the M25, close to the junction with the M11. Stapleford Aerodrome has a CAA Ordinary Licence (Number P472) that allows flights for the public transport of passengers or for flying instruction as authorised by the licensee (Herts & Essex Aero Club Limited).

History

The 1930s

Stapleford opened as Essex Aerodrome in 1933 as a base for

Hillman's Airways Hillman's Airways was a 1930s British airline which later became part of British Airways. The company was formed in November 1931 as Hillman's Saloon Coaches and Airways Limited by Edward Henry "Ted" Hillman, who was a coach operator in Essex. ...

, which provided a service to Paris and other European cities using

De Havilland The de Havilland Aircraft Company Limited (pronounced , ) was a British aviation manufacturer established in late 1920 by Geoffrey de Havilland at Stag Lane Aerodrome Edgware on the outskirts of North London. Operations were later moved to ...

DH.84 Dragon and DH.89 Dragon Rapide

biplanes A biplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with two main wings stacked one above the other. The first powered, controlled aeroplane to fly, the Wright Flyer, used a biplane wing arrangement, as did many aircraft in the early years of aviation. While a ...

Amy Johnson Amy Johnson (born 1 July 1903 – disappeared 5 January 1941) was a pioneering English pilot who was the first woman to fly solo from London to Australia. Flying solo or with her husband, Jim Mollison, she set many long-distance records dur ...

was one of the Hillman Airways pilots. After running into financial difficulties, Hillman was bought up by Whitehall Security Corporation Ltd and merged with three other airlines that they already owned to form

British Airways Ltd 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 (no relation to the US carrier United Airlines), and Hillman' ...

. Operations began in 1936, but after 4 months all flights were moved to

Heston Aerodrome 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, ...

, leaving just a small number of private aircraft. The RAF took an interest in the airfield in 1937, and in 1938 No. 21 Elementary and Reserve Flying Training School RAF was established at Stapleford. Training was provided by Reid and Sigrist Ltd, under contract to the

Air Ministry The Air Ministry was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom with the responsibility of managing the affairs of the Royal Air Force and civil aviation that existed from 1918 to 1964. It was under the political authority of the ...

. One of the most famous students was J.E. "Johnnie" Johnson who became the RAF's top scoring pilot and reached the rank of

air vice-marshal Air vice-marshal (Air Vce Mshl or AVM) is an air officer rank used by some air forces, with origins from the Royal Air Force. The rank is also used by the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence and it is sometime ...

Second World War

The airfield was requisitioned shortly after the start of 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 ...

as RAF

Stapleford Tawney Stapleford Tawney is a village and civil parish in the Epping Forest district of Essex, England. Stapleford Tawney is approximately west-southwest from Chipping Ongar and southwest from the county town of Chelmsford. History Historically Stap ...

. A long perimeter track and dispersal points were built and some accommodation buildings were erected. By the end of March 1940 the airfield was ready to become a satellite station for

RAF North Weald North Weald Airfield is an operational general aviation aerodrome, in the civil parish of North Weald Bassett in Epping Forest (district), Epping Forest, Essex, England. It was an important fighter station during the Battle of Britain, when it ...

. The first squadron to make regular use of Stapleford was No. 151 Squadron, making patrols from the base from August 1940. Six aircraft were lost and two pilots, including squadron leader Eric King, killed in action on 30 August. After a short stay, the squadron was moved to

RAF Digby Royal Air Force Digby otherwise known as RAF Digby is a Royal Air Force List of Royal Air Force stations, station located near Scopwick and south east of Lincoln, Lincolnshire, Lincoln, in Lincolnshire, England. The station is home to the tri-s ...

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (), abbreviated ''Lincs'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands and Yorkshire and the Humber regions of England. It is bordered by the East Riding of Yorkshire across the Humber estuary to th ...

, but one aircraft struck a crane after takeoff and burst into flames. The pilot, Pilot Officer Richard Ambrose, was killed; he is buried in Epping cemetery. No. 46 Squadron arrived in September, having lost all their

Hawker Hurricane The Hawker Hurricane is a British single-seat fighter aircraft of the 1930s–40s which was designed and predominantly built by Hawker Aircraft Ltd. for service with the Royal Air Force (RAF). It was overshadowed in the public consciousness by ...

fighters when the aircraft carrier was sunk while evacuating the squadron from Norway. Other units to use Stapleford included the secret No. 419 Flight, formed in August 1940 as the operational air-arm of the

Special Operations Executive Special Operations Executive (SOE) was a British organisation formed in 1940 to conduct espionage, sabotage and reconnaissance in German-occupied Europe and to aid local Resistance during World War II, resistance movements during World War II. ...

(SOE). They were intended to use

Armstrong Whitworth Whitley The Armstrong Whitworth A.W.38 Whitley was a British medium/heavy bomber aircraft of the 1930s. It was one of three twin-engined, front line medium bomber types that were in service with the Royal Air Force (RAF) at the outbreak of the World W ...

s to drop agents and supplies behind enemy lines.

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 ...

s would be used to pick up agents as well as other important people. Because of heavy

Luftwaffe The Luftwaffe () was the aerial warfare, aerial-warfare branch of the before and during World War II. German Empire, Germany's military air arms during World War I, the of the Imperial German Army, Imperial Army and the of the Imperial Ge ...

attacks on North Weald, the flight moved to Stapleford on 4 September. The Whitley was a rather large aircraft to use Stapleford's grass runways. Only two operations were carried out from Stapleford; one to Brest and the other to

Fontainebleau Fontainebleau ( , , ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Functional area (France), metropolitan area of Paris, France. It is located south-southeast of the Kilometre zero#France, centre of Paris. Fontainebleau is a Subprefectures in Franc ...

. The flight then moved to

RAF Stradishall Royal Air Force Stradishall or more simply RAF Stradishall is a former Royal Air Force station located north east of Haverhill, Suffolk and south west of Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, England. History In his memoirs, Murray Peden, a Royal Can ...

, Suffolk, on 9 October. Other squadrons at Stapleford were No. 242 Squadron and the RAF's oldest, No. 3 Squadron and, in 1941, a new Air Sea Rescue squadron was formed at Stapleford – No. 277 Squadron. In March 1943, Stapleford was taken out of

Fighter Command RAF Fighter Command was one of the commands of the Royal Air Force. It was formed in 1936 to allow more specialised control of fighter aircraft. It operated throughout the Second World War, winning fame during the Battle of Britain in 1940. The ...

and placed under the command of No. 34 Wing of the Army Co-operation Command. Stapleford played an important part in the preparations for

D-Day The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during the Second World War. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as ...

and many units arrived. On 20 November 1944 a

V-2 The V2 (), with the technical name '' Aggregat-4'' (A4), was the world's first long-range guided ballistic missile. The missile, powered by a liquid-propellant rocket engine, was developed during the Second World War in Nazi Germany as a " ven ...

rocket landed in the middle of the airfield leaving a crater 60 feet in diameter. On 23 January 1945 another rocket landed on the airfield camp site killing 17 personnel and injuring 50. A number of the personnel are buried in the church cemetery at North Weald. Stapleford's wartime role ended in 1945, with the last personnel leaving before

VE Day Victory in Europe Day is the day celebrating the formal acceptance by the Allies of World War II of Germany's unconditional surrender of its armed forces on Tuesday, 8 May 1945; it marked the official surrender of all German military operations ...

. A memorial at the airfield recalls those who died. The following units were also here at some point:

Post-war

In 1946, Stapleford Aerodrome was taken over by the

Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is the engineering arm of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces ...

. 869 Mechanical Equipment Squadron RE was the only plant unit in the UK and held a large inventory of bulldozers, scrapers, road rollers, cranes, excavators, draglines and all the plant items that the army had acquired – most of it worn out. The newest of the equipment was used throughout the UK in clearing minefields (armoured bulldozers) and constructing shooting ranges etc. The unit name was changed to Number 1 Plant Park Squadron RE and moved to Bordon, Hampshire, in September 1948. In 1953 Roger Frogley and his brother Buster transferred the Herts and Essex Aero club from

Broxbourne Broxbourne is a town in the Borough of Broxbourne in Hertfordshire, England, with a population of 15,303 at the 2011 Census.Broxbourne Town population 2011 It is located to the south of Hoddesdon and to the north of Cheshunt, north of London. ...

in Hertfordshire to Stapleford. The hangars were renovated and they began flying Tiger Moths and

Auster Auster may refer to: Places * Auster Glacier, located in East Antarctica * Auster Islands, East Antarctica * Auster Pass, located in East Antarctica * Auster Point, located in West Antarctica Other uses * Auster Aircraft, a former British air ...

s. In 1955 Edgar Percival, the famous pre-war aircraft designer, set up a company at Stapleford under his name and started a production line for his EP9 crop-spraying aircraft. A total of 40 aircraft were built.

Today

The airfield is home to the privately owned Stapleford Flight Centre. For around 40 years, it has trained pilots for PPL up to CPL and

ATPL The airline transport pilot license (ATPL), or in the United States of America, an airline transport pilot (ATP) certificate, is the highest level of aircraft pilot certificate. In the United States, those certified as airline transport pilots ...

qualifications. It has a fleet of over 40 aircraft. Other companies on the site provide business charter services, London sightseeing flights and aircraft engineering services. The airfield has two parallel runways, designated 03/21, one being partly

asphalt Asphalt most often refers to: * Bitumen, also known as "liquid asphalt cement" or simply "asphalt", a viscous form of petroleum mainly used as a binder in asphalt concrete * Asphalt concrete, a mixture of bitumen with coarse and fine aggregates, u ...

at one end, and a shorter grass runway, designated 10/28. Lambourne VOR is located at the south of the airfield. The

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

often uses the airfield as a helicopter staging base for major flypasts over

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

Accidents and incidents

On 3 October 2015 a

Beechcraft King Air 200 The Beechcraft Super King Air family is part of a line of twin-turboprop aircraft produced by Beechcraft. The Model 200 and Model 300 series were originally marketed as the "Super King Air" family; the "Super" designation was dropped in 1996.< ...

G-BYCP operated by London Executive Aviation crashed shortly after departure killing both pilots on board.

References

*http://www.iaopa.eu/mediaServlet/storage/gamag/feb08/GA_p34-p35.pdf

External links

Detailed historical record about Stapleford Aerodrome

Stapleford Flight Centre
{{authority control Airports in England Transport in Epping Forest District Airports in the London region Airports established in 1933 1933 establishments in England