Headcorn Aerodrome
Headcorn Aerodrome (RAF Lashenden) (USAAF Station AAF-410) | |||||||||||||||
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AMSL 70 ft / 21 m | | ||||||||||||||
| Coordinates | 51°09′24″N 000°38′33″E / 51.15667°N 0.64250°E | ||||||||||||||
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  EGKH Location in Kent | |||||||||||||||
| Runways | |||||||||||||||
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Sources: UK NATS[1] | |||||||||||||||
Headcorn Aerodrome (ICAO: EGKH) is a private airfield in Kent, England. The airfield is located 8 NM (15 km; 9.2 mi) south of Maidstone;[1] about 32 miles (51 km) southeast of London.
Opened in 1943 during the
After the war, the airfield reverted to farmland until the present private grass airfield was opened in the late 1960s.
History
It was originally farmland, called Shenley Farm. Headcorn Aerodrome was first used for general aviation in 1927 when the local landowner flew with a group of friends.
In 1942 it was requisitioned by the Airfields Board. It was named RAF Lashenden in an attempt to confuse the enemy (Lashenden is to the southwest of the field). Flying started in 1943.
The USAAF Ninth Air Force required several temporary
The following units were here at some point:[2]
- No. 17 (Fighter) Wing RAF (August 1943)[3]
- No. 127 Airfield RAF (June - August 1943)[4]
- No. 403 Squadron RCAF (1943)
- No. 421 Squadron RCAF (1943)
- 354th Fighter Group
- 353rd Fighter Squadron
- 355th Fighter Squadron
- 356th Fighter Squadron
- 362nd Fighter Squadron
With the Americans having left, farming resumed in 1945 but this was not the end of the land's association with aircraft. In the late 1960s, the landowners started using part of the former wartime east-west runway site adjacent to the A274, for private flying. A grass airstrip was built aligned 10/28 with a grass parking area for light aircraft. This led to the formation of Weald Air Services Limited, a small charter company, and later a flying school was set up and the airfield became a busy centre for light flying in the area.
Current use
The airfield is host to Headcorn Parachute Club, the only skydiving club in Kent. The club operates a
Aero Legends is also present offering Supermarine Spitfire experiences.[5]
The Tiger Club was also based at the airfield after moving from Redhill Aerodrome in 1990 before moving onto Damyns Hall Aerodrome[6]
A small museum of aviation relics was established on the site, the Lashenden Air Warfare Museum.
Headcorn Aerodrome has a CAA Ordinary Licence (Number P838) that allows flights for the public transport of passengers or for flying instruction as authorised by the licensee.[7] It is still also sometimes known as Lashenden Aerodrome (the non-directional beacon identifier is "LSH"). PPR (Prior Permission Required) is required to land.
See also
References
- Citations
- ^ a b Lashenden/Headcorn - EGKH
- ^ "Lashenden (Headcorn)". Airfields of Britain Conservation Trust. Retrieved 15 June 2020.
- ^ Sturtivant & Hamlin 2007, p. 0287.
- ^ Sturtivant & Hamlin 2007, p. 46.
- ^ "Headcorn Aerodrome Kent". Aero Legends. Retrieved 29 April 2023.
- ^ "The Club's History". The Tiger Club. Retrieved 27 August 2010.
- ^ Civil Aviation Authority Aerodrome Ordinary Licences Archived 28 June 2007 at the Wayback Machine
- Bibliography
- Sturtivant, R.; Hamlin, J. (2007). Royal Air Force flying training and support units since 1912. UK: Air-Britain (Historians). ISBN 978-0851-3036-59.
Further reading
- Lashenden Air Warfare Museum: Airfield-Aerodrome History
- Freeman, Roger A. (1994) UK Airfields of the Ninth: Then and Now 1994. After the Battle ISBN 0-900913-80-0
- Maurer, Maurer (1983). Air Force Combat Units of World War II. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-89201-092-4.
- USAAS-USAAC-USAAF-USAF Aircraft Serial Numbers--1908 to present
- British Automobile Association (AA), (1978), Complete Atlas of Britain, ISBN 0-86145-005-1
External links
- Aerodrome website
- Photographs of Lashenden (Headcorn) Airfield from the Geograph British Isles project
- Headcorn Parachute Club
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