Hounslow Heath Aerodrome was a grass airfield, operational 1914–1920. It was in the London borough of Hounslow, and hosted the British Empire's first scheduled daily international commercial flights, in 1919. The site today includes the main remaining part of Hounslow Heath.
The last commercial flights took place in 1920, after which services moved to Croydon Airport.
Hounslow Heath Aerodrome is not to be confused with Great West Aerodrome, which opened nearby in 1929, and which is now Heathrow Airport.
A British army cavalry unit had been based since 1793 at Hounslow Barracks, centred 500 metres north of the site, regularly using most of Hounslow Heath for training exercises. Nine years before for the first precision mapmaking and surveying it saw General Roy's Baseline measured from one end of the heath to the other. The act marked a key stage in the Principal Triangulation of Great Britain and was repeated with greater precision on later occasions.
In 1919 the Australian government offered a prize of £10,000 for the first Australians in a British aircraft to fly from Great Britain to Australia.
Takeoff date | Plane | Crew | End date | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|
21 October 1919 | Sopwith Wallaby (G-EAKS) | Captain George Campbell Matthews AFC as pilot, Sergeant Thomas D. Kay as mechanic |
17 April 1920 | Crashed on landing on Bali (after many problems and delays). |
12 November 1919 | Vickers Vimy (G-EAOU) | Captain
Ross Macpherson Smith, his brother Lieutenant Keith Macpherson Smith, two mechanics |
10 December 1919 | Arrived at Darwin, and won the crew the £10,000 prize. |
13 November 1919 | Alliance P.2 Seabird (G-EAOX) named 'Endeavour' | Captain Roger M. Douglas, Lieutenant J.S.L. Ross | 13 November 1919 | Crashed at Surbiton with loss of both pilots. |
21 November 1919 | Blackburn Kangaroo (G-EAOW) | Lieutenant Valdemar Rendle & Lieutenant D.R. Williams, plus Captain Hubert Wilkins & Lieutenant G. St. C. Potts |
8 December 1919 | Crashed on landing at Suda Bay, Crete. |
5 December 1919 | Martinsyde Type A Mk.I (G-EAMR) | Captain Cedric E. Howell, Lieutenant George Fraser | 9 December 1919 | Plane disappeared near Corfu; the wreckage and Howell's body were found offshore, but Fraser's body was never found. |
8 January 1920 | Airco DH.9 (G-EAQM) | Lieutenant Ray Parer, Lieutenant John C. McIntosh | 2 August 1920 | Arrived at Darwin after 206 days; £A1,000 consolation prize. [3] [6] [8] |
Hounslow Heath has largely reverted to an undeveloped public open space and nature reserve. [3] There are also several memorials to the aerodrome.[ citation needed]
Hounslow Heath Aerodrome was a grass airfield, operational 1914–1920. It was in the London borough of Hounslow, and hosted the British Empire's first scheduled daily international commercial flights, in 1919. The site today includes the main remaining part of Hounslow Heath.
The last commercial flights took place in 1920, after which services moved to Croydon Airport.
Hounslow Heath Aerodrome is not to be confused with Great West Aerodrome, which opened nearby in 1929, and which is now Heathrow Airport.
A British army cavalry unit had been based since 1793 at Hounslow Barracks, centred 500 metres north of the site, regularly using most of Hounslow Heath for training exercises. Nine years before for the first precision mapmaking and surveying it saw General Roy's Baseline measured from one end of the heath to the other. The act marked a key stage in the Principal Triangulation of Great Britain and was repeated with greater precision on later occasions.
In 1919 the Australian government offered a prize of £10,000 for the first Australians in a British aircraft to fly from Great Britain to Australia.
Takeoff date | Plane | Crew | End date | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|
21 October 1919 | Sopwith Wallaby (G-EAKS) | Captain George Campbell Matthews AFC as pilot, Sergeant Thomas D. Kay as mechanic |
17 April 1920 | Crashed on landing on Bali (after many problems and delays). |
12 November 1919 | Vickers Vimy (G-EAOU) | Captain
Ross Macpherson Smith, his brother Lieutenant Keith Macpherson Smith, two mechanics |
10 December 1919 | Arrived at Darwin, and won the crew the £10,000 prize. |
13 November 1919 | Alliance P.2 Seabird (G-EAOX) named 'Endeavour' | Captain Roger M. Douglas, Lieutenant J.S.L. Ross | 13 November 1919 | Crashed at Surbiton with loss of both pilots. |
21 November 1919 | Blackburn Kangaroo (G-EAOW) | Lieutenant Valdemar Rendle & Lieutenant D.R. Williams, plus Captain Hubert Wilkins & Lieutenant G. St. C. Potts |
8 December 1919 | Crashed on landing at Suda Bay, Crete. |
5 December 1919 | Martinsyde Type A Mk.I (G-EAMR) | Captain Cedric E. Howell, Lieutenant George Fraser | 9 December 1919 | Plane disappeared near Corfu; the wreckage and Howell's body were found offshore, but Fraser's body was never found. |
8 January 1920 | Airco DH.9 (G-EAQM) | Lieutenant Ray Parer, Lieutenant John C. McIntosh | 2 August 1920 | Arrived at Darwin after 206 days; £A1,000 consolation prize. [3] [6] [8] |
Hounslow Heath has largely reverted to an undeveloped public open space and nature reserve. [3] There are also several memorials to the aerodrome.[ citation needed]