London Air Park

London Air Park
London Air Park
	No 5 E&RFTS new hangar, apron and machine gun range, 1938, beside Hanworth Park House, then a hotel
	IATA: none; ICAO: none;
Summary
Location	Feltham, England
Opened	1917-1919; 1929–1947
Coordinates	51°26′18″N 0°23′45″W / 51.43833°N 0.39583°W
Map
	; Hanworth Air Park, 1939

London Air Park, also known as Hanworth Air Park, was a grass airfield in the grounds of Hanworth Park House, operational 1917–1919 and 1929–1947. It was on the southeastern edge of Feltham, now part of the London Borough of Hounslow. In the 1930s, it was best known as a centre for private flying, society events, visits by the Graf Zeppelin airship, and for aircraft manufacture by the Whitehead Aircraft Company during World War I and General Aircraft Limited (GAL) 1934–1949; in total over 1,650 aircraft were built here.

Hanworth Park House

In 1797, the manor house was destroyed by fire, leaving only the stable block, which survives today as flats, plus the coach house, which was converted into homes. c. 1799, a new house was built on the same site known as Hanworth House. In 1827, the house and estate of c. 680 acres (known as Hanworth Great Park), including three farms was sold outright to Henry Perkins.

tetrastyle, fluted columned front porch, (a portico) with a frieze end cornice. In front, 17 wide Portland stone steps lead to the house with plain balustrades and cast iron lanterns. A rosette frieze is above the each level. The west side has a balcony on brackets to ground floor and a veranda. Inside, the style is Greek stone and plaster with some later alteration. The staircase is of cast iron balusters and with a square central glazed lantern above.^[5]

Airfield history

Aircraft production 1916–1919

At the end of 1915, the Whitehead Aircraft Co Ltd, headed by John Alexander Whitehead, manufactured six

Airco D.H.9s, ending in October 1919. Whitehead offered several projected aircraft designs; a seaplane was built, but never flown.^[7]

Production 1920–1932

In 1920, diversification plans failed, Whitehead Aircraft was dissolved, 2,000 workers were dismissed, and J.A. Whitehead went bankrupt. In January 1924, Feltham Garden Suburbs Ltd acquired Hanworth Park and other assets of Whitehead Aircraft. In 1925, the Union Construction Company (UCC) leased the southwest section of the former Whitehead works, for subsequent production of underground trains (1928), 'Feltham' metal-framed trams (1929), and trolleybuses (1930), and then closed in 1932. In 1926, Aston Martin purchased buildings at the northern end of the industrial site nearest to Feltham, for car production that continued until 1956.^[7]^[8]

Private flying 1929–1934

In November 1928,

White Paper that set out the terms of an agreement with NFS. NFS then developed Hanworth Park as a functional aerodrome, renamed London Air Park, with Hanworth Park House as a country club and as the headquarters of NFS. Hangars were erected in four separate areas of the park. On 31 August 1929, Hanworth aerodrome was re-opened by Mary Russell, Duchess of Bedford. The first training aircraft used by NFS were Simmonds Spartans, DH.60X Moths and DH.60M Moths, followed by Blackburn Bluebird IVs. During 1930, NFS started operating Desoutters for air-taxi and charter work. Following a financial loss in the first year, Sir Alan Cobham joined the board, and Colonel the Master of Sempill became chairman.^[7]^[9]

London Air Park gained notoriety for garden party fly-ins ('aerial tea parties'), air pageants and air races, and often presence of celebrities such as

King's Cup Air Race which was won by Winifred Brown in an Avro Avian. On 18 August 1931, the German airship 'Graf Zeppelin' (D-LZ127) visited Hanworth. On 2 July 1932, it returned as part of a round-Britain tour, and on the next day it operated paid flights over London.^[7]^[12]

In 1932, NFS financial losses continued, and the British government withdrew its subsidy. In June 1933, NFS was in receivership, but continued to function until October 1934. The NFS flying club re-formed as the London Air Park Flying Club.[7]

Aircraft production 1932–1939

In 1932, the

B.A.C. Drones and one Kronfeld Monoplane before receivership in September 1937. In 1935, Light Aircraft Ltd assembled 16 American-built Aeronca C-3s at Hanworth. On 15 April 1936, the Aeronautical Corporation of Great Britain was formed, and built a modified version as the Aeronca 100 at Walton aerodrome, Peterborough. At the end of 1936, about 21 examples had been made, mostly unsold. All completed Aeronca 100s were taken over by Aircraft Exchange & Mart, who then sold five to the London Air Park Flying Club to add to the Aeronca C-3s already in use. On 5 June 1937, Tipsy Aircraft Company Ltd was formed to manufacture Tipsy Trainers under licence from Avions Fairey, first at Hanworth, then at Slough in 1939. 15 examples were built before World War II, then 3 more at Hanworth 1947–1948. Less significant production, and unsuccessful 1930s types unique at Hanworth included Angus Aquila, Arpin A-1, Broughton-Blayney Brawney, Pickering-Pearson KP.2.^[13]

GAL & preparation for war 1934–1939

In October 1934,

No. 5 Elementary and Reserve Flying Training School RAF (No.5 E&RFTS), using aircraft types including Blackburn B-2 and Hawker Hart Trainer. From 1937 to 1939, it trained RAFVR pilots. In April 1936, Charles Lindbergh visited the airfield where he flew in a BK.1 Eagle sales demonstrator aircraft, that he subsequently flew solo.^[14] The ground facilities were used as a location for the movie 'It's in the Air' (1938) starring George Formby.^[15] In 1938, the London Air Park Flying Club joined the Civil Air Guard scheme, in which the government subsidized training fees in return for call-up commitments. GAL took over and developed the CW Cygnet design.^[13]^[16]

Military activities 1939–1945

On 3 September 1939, No.5 E&RFTS dropped its 'reserve' status, and it was renamed No.5 EFTS; the fleet was then standardized with the

GAL.48 Hotspur and GAL.49 Hamilcar gliders. It also produced less-successful designs, including GAL.33 Cagnet, GAL.38 Fleet Shadower, GAL.45 Owlet, GAL.47 (AOP), GAL.55, plus GAL.56 experimental flying wing gliders. Sub-contract work included construction of Fairey Firefly Mk.I monoplanes, plus major assemblies for types including Blackburn Shark, Supermarine Spitfire, Armstrong Whitworth Whitley, Armstrong Whitworth Albemarle. On 3 October 1940, a German incendiary bomb destroyed production of Cygnets and Albemarle sections. GAL converted Hawker Hurricanes with catapult launching equipment for use on convoy escort ships, and for landing on aircraft carriers.^[16]^[17]^[18]

Decline 1945–1955

After World War II, some GAL activity continued, including production of sections of

Heathrow came into use as the principal London Airport, and for several years flights at Hanworth were subject to Heathrow air traffic clearance, eventually growing to delays of several hours; no fixed-wing flights are recorded after 1955. In 1956, Feltham Urban District Council purchased Hanworth Park, and the former GAL factory was taken over by Thorn EMI.^[7]^[13]

Today

Hanworth Park remains substantially a public open space, with large areas of cultivated grass, plus other areas allowed to revert to scrubland. Hanworth Park House is unoccupied and fenced. The site of the former GAL factory is occupied by the Leisure West retail/entertainment complex.

In the northern corner of the park,

Feltham Community College and its playing fields are enclosed, and at the south eastern edge is a public sports facility once named Feltham Airparcs, but renamed in 2010 as Hanworth Air Park Leisure Centre & Library with the addition of the library.^[7]^[19]

Some of the south end of the park hosts Feltham Rugby Football Club, founded 1947 and since 2001 it has been the home of Hanworth Sports F.C. a very successful Grass Roots Football Club.^[citation needed]

Notes

^ The Morning Post 6 June 1827
^ The Articles of Sale for the auction of 19 June 1873 (London Metropolitan Archive ref. ACC/1023/383) state that Hanworth Park House was built c.1832.
^ Hanworth Park House: Listed building 'could fall down' without restoration, BBC News.
^ Tudor Close Historic England. "Details from listed building database (1358688)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 15 June 2013.
^ Hanworth Park Historic England. "Details from listed building database (1240343)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 15 June 2013.
^ Cameron 1979, p. 28
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Sherwood (1999)
^ Mason, Aug 2004
^ Sunderland (1984), p.84/87
^ Flight 11 April 1930 flightglobal.com
^ James, Stephen (8 March 2020). "London Air Park at Hanworth – Habitats & Heritage". habitatsandheritage.org.uk. Retrieved 18 July 2022.
^ Feltham Arts Association (1997)
^ ^a ^b ^c Smith (2002)
^ Flight 23 April 1936 flightglobal.com
^ "It's in the Air". reelstreets.com. Retrieved 18 July 2022.
^ ^a ^b Brooks (2000)
^ Delve (2007)
^ Halpenny (1992)
^ "Hanworth Library". Archived from the original on 30 September 2008.