London Biggin Hill Airport
London Biggin Hill Airport Biggin Hill Airport | |||||||||||
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AMSL 599 ft / 183 m | | ||||||||||
Coordinates | 51°19′51″N 000°01′57″E / 51.33083°N 0.03250°E | ||||||||||
Website | www.bigginhillairport.com | ||||||||||
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Runways | |||||||||||
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Statistics (2018) | |||||||||||
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Sources: UK |
London Biggin Hill Airport (IATA: BQH, ICAO: EGKB) is a minor commercial airport serving Biggin Hill in the London Borough of Bromley, located 12 NM (22 km; 14 mi) south-southeast of Central London. It specialises in general aviation, handling a spectrum of traffic from private aviation to large business jets. It currently has no scheduled airline service,[3][4] as flights using the airport are not regularly permitted to carry fare-paying passengers.
The airport was formerly a Royal Air Force station RAF Biggin Hill, and a small enclave on the airport still retains that designation. Biggin Hill is best known for its role during the Battle of Britain in the Second World War, when it served as one of the principal fighter bases protecting London and South East England from attack by German Luftwaffe bombers. Over the course of the war, fighters based at Biggin Hill claimed 1,400 enemy aircraft, at the cost of the lives of 453 Biggin Hill based aircrew.[5][6]
The airport has a CAA Ordinary Licence (Number P804) that allows flights for the public transport of passengers or for flying instruction as authorised by the licensee (Regional Airports Limited).
History
Military airfield
First World War
The airfield was originally opened by the
Shortly after the war, on 7 January 1919, around 700 RAF technical staff mutinied.[10] Their grievances included poor food and living conditions, with one complaint being that they only had eight washbasins between them.[11][12] The mutiny was ended by the intervention of sympathetic officers.[11]
Apperfield Court was demolished in 1920 and the aerodrome extended onto its grounds.[8] Between the wars, the airfield was used by a number of experimental units, working on instrument design, ground-based anti-aircraft defences, and night flying. The base was closed between 1929 and 1932, during which period reconstruction work took place including the building of new hangars.[9]
Second World War
During the Second World War the airfield was one of the commanding bases for No. 11 Group RAF, RAF Fighter Command during the Battle of Britain, with both Supermarine Spitfires and Hawker Hurricanes from a variety of squadrons being based there. The squadrons based at Biggin Hill claimed to have destroyed 1,400 enemy aircraft, at the cost of the lives of 453 Biggin Hill-based aircrew. Due to its importance to the defence of London, the airfield itself became a target. Between August 1940 and January 1941, the airfield was attacked twelve times, the worst of which wrecked workshops, stores, barracks, WAAF quarters and a hangar, killing 39 people on the ground.[6][9]
During the war Biggin Hill was also used by RAF Balloon Command.[13]
Post war
After the war, Biggin Hill was briefly used by RAF Transport Command, and then became a base for both regular and reserve fighter squadrons, flying Spitfires, Meteors and Hunters. A fatal incident involving the loss of three Meteors on 18 June 1951 (see incidents and accidents below) caused the station's continued use by the military to be called into question. However, in 1958 Biggin Hill ceased to be an operational RAF station, becoming the Officer and Aircrew Selection Centre for the RAF. Due to the impending closure of the nearby original London Airport at Croydon, from 1956 much of the civilian light aviation from Croydon relocated to Biggin and it became a joint civilian and military airport. Croydon closed completely in 1959, at which time Biggin Hill became a mainly civilian airport with only occasional military flying taking place.[9]
RAF units at Biggin Hill
The following units were at Biggin Hill at some time:[14]
- No. 1 Squadron RAF
- No. 3 Squadron RAF
- No. 19 Squadron RAF
- No. 23 Squadron RAF
- No. 32 Squadron RAF
- No. 37 Squadron RAF
- No. 39 Squadron RAF
- No. 41 Squadron RAF
- No. 56 Squadron RAF
- No. 64 Squadron RAF
- No. 66 Squadron RAF
- No. 72 Squadron RAF
- No. 74 Squadron RAF
- No. 78 Squadron RAF
- No. 79 Squadron RAF
- No. 91 Squadron RAF
- No. 92 Squadron RAF
- No. 124 Squadron RAF
- No. 133 Squadron RAF
- No. 154 Squadron RAF
- No. 213 Squadron RAF
- No. 222 Squadron RAF
- No. 229 Squadron RAF
- No. 242 Squadron RAF
- No. 264 Squadron RAF
- No. 287 Squadron RAF
- No. 322 (Dutch) Squadron RAF
- No. 340 (Free French) Squadron RAF
- No. 341 (G.C.III/2 'Alsace') Squadron
- No. 345 Squadron RAF
- No. 401 Squadron RCAF
- No. 411 Squadron RCAF
- No. 412 Squadron RCAF
- No. 436 Squadron RCAF
- No. 485 Squadron RNZAF
- No. 600 Squadron RAF
- No. 601 Squadron RAF
- No. 602 Squadron RAF
- No. 609 Squadron RAF
- No. 610 Squadron RAF
- No. 611 Squadron RAF
- No. 615 Squadron RAF
- 802 Naval Air Squadron
- 807 Naval Air Squadron
- 819 Naval Air Squadron
- No. 945/947 (Balloon) Squadron
- No. 951 (Balloon) Squadron
- No. 953 (Balloon) Squadron
- No. 958 (Balloon) Squadron
- Units
- No. 1 Anti-Aircraft Co-operation Unit RAF (1 AACU) (February – May 1937 & September 1937 – April 1938)[15]
- 'C' Flight of 1 AACU (March – May 1937)[15]
- 'D' Flight of 1 AACU (September 1937 – April 1938)[15]
- 'H' Flight of 1 AACU (April – September 1939)[15]
- No. 1 Air Experience Flight RAF (September 1958 – February 1959)[16]
- No. 1 Fighter Command Servicing Unit
- No. 2 Fighter Command Servicing Unit
- No. 5 (Home Defence) Wing RAF (April 1923 - April 1924)[17]
- No. 6 Radio Maintenance Unit (July - August 1940)[18]
- No. 6 Radio Servicing Section (September 1940 - February 1941)[19]
- No. 8 Fighter Command Servicing Unit
- No. 61 Group Communication Flight RAF (March 1958 - January 1959)[20]
- No. 126 Airfield RAF (October 1943 - April 1944)[21]
- No. 141 (Fighter) Wing RAF (October - November 1944)[22]
- No. 162 Gliding School RAF (June 1949 - August 1950)[23]
- No. 403 Repair & Salvage Unit (October - September 1943)[24]
- No. 405 Repair & Salvage Unit (November 1943 - January 1944)[24]
- No. 410 Repair & Salvage Unit (January - April 1944)[24]
- No. 421 (Reconnaissance) Flight RAF (November 1940)[25]
- No. 2705 Squadron RAF Regiment
- No. 2709 Squadron RAF Regiment
- No. 2745 Squadron RAF Regiment
- No. 2767 Squadron RAF Regiment
- No. 2803 Squadron RAF Regiment
- No. 2824 Squadron RAF Regiment
- No. 2847 Squadron RAF Regiment
- Aircrew Selection Centre RAF (April 1962)[26]
- Anti-Aircraft Co-operation Unit RAF (April 1936 - February 1937)[15]
- Ground Officers Selection Centre RAF (April 1962)[26]
- Battle of Britain Flight RAF (February 1958)[29]
- Instrument Design Establishment (Home) RAF (March 1920 - April 1922)[30]
- London University Air Squadron (October 1946 - December 1947)[31]
- Detachment from Metropolitan Sector HQ RAF (1946 - 47)[32]
- Navigation Flight RAF (March - April 1920)[33]
- Night Flying Flight RAF (July 1923 - October 1931)[34]
- Officer and Aircrew Selection Centre (April 1962 - September 1992)[35]
- South Eastern Sector HQ RAF (November 1945 - June 1946)[36]
- University of London Air Squadron (April 1957 - February 1959)[31]
- Wireless Telephony School RAF (April 1918)[37]
- Wireless Experimental Establishment RAF (December 1917 - April 1918) became W/T Establishment RAF (April 1918 - November 1919)[37]
Civilian airport
Towards the end of 1963, the Orpington Urban District Council (within whose boundaries the airfield lay) was approached by the Board of Trade as to whether the Council would purchase (effectively from the RAF) Biggin Hill airfield. In 1964, on formation of the London Borough of Bromley, which absorbed Orpington, the offer to purchase was open to the new borough. Protracted negotiations were held with the Board of Trade and later the Department of Trade and Industry. At a special meeting on 15 June 1972 the Council decided to purchase the airport by a recorded vote of 41 to 9. The purchase was eventually completed in 1974. RAF Biggin Hill was awarded the Freedom of the Borough of Bromley on 5 October 1980.
In May 1992 the
Meanwhile, the Officer and Aircrew Selection Centre moved to RAF Cranwell in 1992, marking the end of active RAF involvement.[9]
In 2001, the London Borough of Bromley as
In May 2017 runway 29/11 was permanently withdrawn from use.[41]
Description
The airport is located on a hilltop, just to the east of the
The airport has one runway (03/21, so close to northeast by north/southwest by west) 1,820 metres in length, making it usable by aircraft up to
Despite the ban on scheduled services, Biggin Hill is used by a large number of business flights by business jets and similar sized aircraft. The airport has a passenger terminal, located on the A233 road just south of Leaves Green, which provides facilities for such flights, including departure lounges, a licensed café bar, and customs and immigration facilities.[46]
The current RAF Biggin Hill is a small enclave on the western boundary of the airport to the south of the passenger terminal, and contains the headquarters of 2427 Squadron of the
Besides the passenger terminal and RAF enclave, other former RAF buildings still exist in the 'North Camp' to the west of the main runway, including the Sergeant's Mess of 1932, the Airmen's Institute of circa 1926, the former Station Headquarters building of 1931 and several barrack blocks. The buildings, which are Grade II listed, are in a redbrick neo-Georgian style typical of military airfields of the interwar period. They have been vacant since the Officer and Aircrew Selection Centre closed in 1992, and were added to English Heritage's list of buildings at risk in 2006.[6]
The 'South Camp', situated to the south of runway 11/29, was transferred to civil usage in the 1950s and now consists of a utilitarian collection of hangars and sheds, together with a modern office park. It now contains many aviation related businesses, flying clubs and flying schools. Many private light aircraft are based on the airport.
From 1963, Biggin Hill airport was the venue of the Biggin Hill International Air Fair, an annual airshow that usually took place towards the end of June. On 5 July 2010 Biggin Hill Airport Ltd cancelled the 25-year contract with Air Displays International (the Air Fair organisers) without warning, a few weeks after the 2010 event, during which the Air Fair had attracted record breaking crowds.
Construction on a new state-of-the-art hangar alongside the Passenger Terminal commenced in October 2010. Excavations of the site uncovered underground war-time fuel tanks and associated pump rooms; these were re-covered during the same building works. Construction was planned to finish late in Spring 2011.
Biggin Hill is the location of one of the four "
Three model aircraft clubs operate within a three-mile radius of Biggin Hill Airport. One site operates within its Aerodrome Traffic Zone (2.5 NM (4.6 km; 2.9 mi) radius)[51]
For 60 years (to 2016) an Air Scout centre has been located on the grounds of the airport. The centre allowed young people aged between 7 and 18 to take part in aviation activities with their scout groups. In 2016, Biggin Hill Airport Limited, which has historically claimed to support young people coming into aviation, rescinded its sub-lease to the Scout Aviation Centre in order to make way for new car parking spaces, giving them until 30 September 2016 to vacate their home of some 60 years.[52]
The airfield still retains its history by the continued restoration projects running at the Biggin Hill Heritage Hangar. IntotheBlue experience days, a UK company within the airfield allows members of the public to fly alongside a Mk9 Spitfire in a 1950s Harvard. Projects like this hold a timely reminder to how important the airport was during the Second World War.
Airlines and destinations
Commercial service to the airport has previously been rejected. An application by the airport to allow such flights around the time of the 2012 London Olympics was rejected by Bromley Council in March 2011.[53] Under the terms of its lease, no scheduled or fare-paying passenger services are permitted to operate to or from the airport. Air Alderney announced it planned to launch charter services between the airport and Alderney.
Accidents
- On 18 June 1951, three Gloster Meteors crashed and their pilots were killed in accidents, all three crashing in an area of about 100 yd (91 m). The first, a Meteor VIII piloted by Flight Lieutenant Gordon McDonald of 41 Squadron, crashed shortly after take-off, corkscrewing as pieces of structure fell from the aircraft. The aircraft hit a bungalow, killing the pilot. The jet wash of his flight leader was named as a possible cause. Within seconds of this accident two Mark IV Meteors of 600 Squadron, piloted by Sergeant Kenneth Clarkson and Squadron Leader Phillip Sandeman, both circling over the wreckage and preparing to land, collided at 2,000 ft (610 m) above the scene. Although Sandeman managed to bail out, he was killed when his parachute failed to open. Clarkson was killed in his aircraft. A week after this incident, another Meteor overshot the runway, narrowly missing passing cars. After these incidents, several residents stated they would be "selling up" and there were calls for traffic lights to be installed on the Bromley road for use during take-offs and landings.[54]
- On 15 May 1977, during the annual International Air Fair, a Bell 206 helicopter was in a mid-air collision with a de Havilland Tiger Moth at the airport. The Tiger Moth landed but the Bell 206 crashed, killing all five on board.[55]
- On 25 November 1978, a Socata Rallye 150 collided with a Cessna 150 over the airfield. The Rallye crashed near flying club buildings, killing the student pilot. The Cessna landed in a field and both occupants escaped with minor injuries. A report by the Air Accidents Investigation Branch concluded that the collision was caused by the failure of the Cessna pilot to see and give way to the other aircraft. The failure of the Rallye pilot to keep sufficient look-out was a contributory factor.[56]
- On 21 September 1980 a Civil Aviation Authority subsequently introduced rules preventing passengers from being carried during air displays.[57]
- On 2 June 2001 a vintage de Havilland Vampire jet crashed during an air display, killing both pilots. The Vampire had been flying a display in tandem with a de Havilland Sea Vixen aircraft, and the likely cause of the accident was that the Vampire's flight path had been disrupted by wake turbulence from the larger aircraft.[58]
- On 3 June 2001 a 1944 Bell P-63 Kingcobra crashed during a display, killing the pilot. The American Second World War fighter aircraft had been flying an unplanned sequence when the pilot lost control at the top of a climbing manoeuvre and was unable to recover from the resulting dive. The aircraft impacted the ground to the west of the runway in a steep nose-down attitude.[59]
- On 30 March 2008 a Cessna Citation 501 aircraft crashed into a housing estate north of the airfield, killing all five people on board. Shortly after take-off from Biggin Hill, the pilot had reported severe engine vibration and was attempting to return to the airfield when the aircraft crashed. An investigation concluded that both engines had been shut down (possibly inadvertently) during the course of the short flight. Among those killed were Eurosport commentator and former Touring Car driver David Leslie and ex-Le Mans driver Richard Lloyd.[60]
- On 24 November 2014, a Gulfstream G650jet. He suggested his followers each commit to giving "$300 or more." The jet he wanted was the "fastest plane ever built in civilian aviation" at that time. After receiving immediate backlash, Dollar ended his fundraising campaign.
In popular culture
One of the taxiways appears on the back cover of Pink Floyd's 1969 album Ummagumma.[62]
The airport is used in the film The Da Vinci Code (2006).[63]
The airport was used in the filming of the 2005 British television series Space Cadets.[64]
See also
References
Citations
- ^ "Biggin Hill - EGKB". Archived from the original on 16 February 2012. Retrieved 9 December 2008.
- ^ "Data and analysis | UK Civil Aviation Authority". www.caa.co.uk.
- ^ "London Biggin Hill Airport - Welcome". Regional Airports Ltd. Retrieved 4 January 2007.
- ^ "Civil Aviation Authority Aerodrome Ordinary Licences" (PDF). Civil Aviation Authority. Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 June 2007. Retrieved 4 January 2007.
- ^ "London Biggin Hill Airport - Battle of Britain". Regional Airports. Archived from the original on 25 May 2007. Retrieved 4 January 2007.
- ^ a b c "Biggin hill - Battle of Britain RAF Mess Hall at Risk". English Heritage. 10 July 2006. Archived from the original on 26 June 2007. Retrieved 4 January 2007.
- ^ "Biggin Hill in 1914 and onwards". Ideal Homes: A history of south-east London suburbs. Archived from the original on 4 February 2017. Retrieved 3 February 2017.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-4050-4924-5.
- ^ a b c d e f "R.A.F. Station Biggin Hill". Biggin Hill Productions. Retrieved 6 January 2007.
- ISBN 978-0-907675-70-9.
- ^ a b Aircraft Volumes 36-37. Royal Aeronautical Society Australian Division. 1957. p. 77.
- ISBN 978-1-84725-021-6.
- ^ Falconer 2012, p. 50.
- ^ "Biggin Hill". Airfields of Britain Conservation Trust. Retrieved 29 April 2020.
- ^ a b c d e Sturtivant, Hamlin & Halley 1997, p. 69.
- ^ Sturtivant, Hamlin & Halley 1997, p. 53.
- ^ Sturtivant, Hamlin & Halley 1997, p. 310.
- ^ Sturtivant, Hamlin & Halley 1997, p. 253.
- ^ Sturtivant, Hamlin & Halley 1997, p. 255.
- ^ Sturtivant, Hamlin & Halley 1997, p. 183.
- ^ Sturtivant, Hamlin & Halley 1997, p. 54.
- ^ Sturtivant, Hamlin & Halley 1997, p. 324.
- ^ Sturtivant, Hamlin & Halley 1997, p. 166.
- ^ a b c Sturtivant, Hamlin & Halley 1997, p. 261.
- ^ Sturtivant, Hamlin & Halley 1997, p. 131.
- ^ a b Sturtivant, Hamlin & Halley 1997, p. 52.
- ^ Sturtivant, Hamlin & Halley 1997, p. 68.
- ^ Sturtivant, Hamlin & Halley 1997, p. 192.
- ^ Sturtivant, Hamlin & Halley 1997, p. 81.
- ^ Sturtivant, Hamlin & Halley 1997, p. 194.
- ^ a b Sturtivant, Hamlin & Halley 1997, p. 307.
- ^ Sturtivant, Hamlin & Halley 1997, p. 223.
- ^ Sturtivant, Hamlin & Halley 1997, p. 227.
- ^ Sturtivant, Hamlin & Halley 1997, p. 228.
- ^ Sturtivant, Hamlin & Halley 1997, p. 229.
- ^ Sturtivant, Hamlin & Halley 1997, p. 273.
- ^ a b Sturtivant, Hamlin & Halley 1997, p. 339.
- ^ "RAL". RAL.
- ^ "London Borough of Bromley | Written Statement 12. BIGGIN HILL AIRPORT AND ENVIRONS".
- ^ "London Biggin Hill Airport - Passenger Flights". Regional Airports Ltd. Archived from the original on 28 July 2007. Retrieved 4 January 2007.
- ^ "Eurocontrol Biggin Hill Airport Chart". Archived from the original on 25 August 2010. Retrieved 1 December 2017.
- ISBN 978-0-319-23927-8.
- ^ "London Biggin Hill Airport - Airport Plan" (PDF). Regional Airports Ltd. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 August 2007. Retrieved 6 January 2007.
- ^ "London Biggin Hill Airport - Maximum Aircraft Size". Regional Airports Ltd. Archived from the original on 28 July 2007. Retrieved 4 January 2007.
- ^ "London Biggin Hill Airport - Aircraft Services, Handling and Maintenance". Regional Airports Ltd. Archived from the original on 22 August 2007. Retrieved 4 January 2007.
- ^ "London Biggin Hill Airport - Executive Handling". Regional Airports Ltd. Archived from the original on 3 June 2007. Retrieved 7 January 2007.
- ^ "2427 (Biggin Hill) Squadron, Air Training Corps". 2427 (Biggin Hill) Squadron, Air Training Corps. Retrieved 16 December 2006.
- ^ "London Biggin Hill Airport - RAF Chapel". Regional Airports Ltd. Archived from the original on 3 July 2007. Retrieved 4 January 2007.
- ^ "Say A Prayer for St George's Chapel" (PDF). RAF Chapel Biggin Hill. Retrieved 5 March 2016.
- Daily Telegraph. 6 January 2015. Retrieved 5 March 2016.
- ^ "Airport Consultative Committee" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 July 2011.
- ^ "Aviation Scout group to leave Biggin Hill Airport after 60 years". News Shopper. 23 August 2016.
- ^ "Biggin Hill Airport Olympic proposals rejected by Bromley Council". Bromley News Shopper. Newsquest. 22 March 2011. Retrieved 23 January 2012.
- ISBN 1-872337-41-4
- ^ "Air Accident Report 2/78" (PDF). AAIB.
- ^ "Air Accident Report 4/80" (PDF). AAIB.
- ^ "Bad day at Biggin". Martin J Simpson. Retrieved 16 September 2008.
- ^ "AAIB report into 2 June 2001 accident at Biggin Hill" (PDF). Retrieved 3 April 2008.
- ^ "AAIB report into 3 June 2001 accident at Biggin Hill" (PDF). Retrieved 9 June 2008.
- ^ "Private plane crashes into homes". BBC News. 30 March 2008. Retrieved 18 July 2012.
- ^ "ASN Aircraft accident Gulfstream Aerospace G-1159A". Retrieved 13 October 2022.
- ISBN 978-1-84938-370-7.
- ^ "Where is The Da Vinci Code filmed?". Find That Location. Retrieved 28 April 2022.
- ^ "Channel 4's Space Cadets blasts off with 2.6m". Haymarket Media Group Ltd. Campaign Live. Retrieved 28 April 2022.
Bibliography
- Falconer, J (2012). RAF Airfields of World War 2. UK: Ian Allan Publishing. ISBN 978-1-85780-349-5.
- Sturtivant, R; Hamlin, J; Halley, J (1997). Royal Air Force flying training and support units. UK: Air-Britain (Historians). ISBN 0-85130-252-1.
Further reading
- ISBN 978-0-85059-585-7)
External links
Media related to London Biggin Hill Airport at Wikimedia Commons