Hay Mills Rotor Station (or Rotorstation) was a

helidrome A heliport is a small airport suitable for use by helicopters and some other vertical lift aircraft. Designated heliports typically contain one or more touchdown and liftoff areas and may also have limited facilities such as fuel or hangars. I ...

in the

Hay Mills Hay Mills is an area of east Birmingham, England straddling the A45 road, A45 Coventry Road about south east of the city centre. North of the Coventry Road is mainly residential whereas the south is mixed residential and commercial. The area wa ...

district of southern Birmingham, England, which was operational from 1951 to 1954.

Location

The choice of a suburban location away from the city centre was influenced by the fact that single-engine helicopters available at the time were not allowed to fly over built-up areas, in case of engine failure. The site, using part of a recreation ground, was bounded by Coventry Road (the A45), Heybarnes Road, Hob Moor Road and the River Cole, and lay approximately equidistant between Birmingham city centre and Birmingham Airport.

Operations

The helidrome had two asphalt landing pads and a wooden terminal building. It hosted services operated by British European Airways (BEA), which flew to Northolt Aerodrome, London, where there were onward connections to London Heathrow. At the time of opening, there were three flights a day to London, operated by Westland-Sikorsky S51 helicopters, registrations G-AJHW and G-AJOV. Flight time to Northolt was 70 minutes. A Bristol 171 Sycamore, G-AMWH, was used from 13 July 1953.

Notable flights

A "proving flight", flown by Captain J.G. Thielmann and carrying the aeronautical correspondent of '' The Times'', took place on 19 May 1951. Inaugural flights took place on 1 June, and (according to advance news coverage) were scheduled to carry "

Lord Pakenham Francis Aungier Pakenham, 7th Earl of Longford, 1st Baron Pakenham, Baron Pakenham of Cowley, (5 December 1905 – 3 August 2001), known to his family as Frank Longford and styled Lord Pakenham from 1945 to 1961, was a British politician and ...

, Minister of Civil Aviation, Mr Frank Berwick, the Parliamentary Secretary,

Lord Douglas of Kirtleside Marshal of the Royal Air Force William Sholto Douglas, 1st Baron Douglas of Kirtleside, (23 December 1893 – 29 October 1969) was a senior commander in the Royal Air Force. After serving as a pilot, then a flight commander and finally as a squ ...

, chairman of B.E.A., Lady Douglas, Mr. Peter Masefield, Chief Executive, B.E.A., and Sir

George Cribbett George may refer to: People * George (given name) * George (surname) * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Washington, First President of the United States * George W. Bush, 43rd Presiden ...

, of the Ministry of Civil Aviation", who were to be entertained to lunch by the

Lord Mayor of Birmingham This is a list of the mayors and lord mayors of Birmingham in the West Midlands of England. Birmingham has had a mayor (and elected council) since 1838. The office was raised to the dignity of lord mayor when Queen Victoria issued letters pat ...

, Ralph Yates. The service opened to the public on 4 June. One of the service's early users was the Member of Parliament for Kidderminster, Gerald Nabarro.

Closure

Passenger services ceased to operate on 9 April 1952, with a freight-only operation continuing until 15 January 1954.

References

{{Reflist

External links

An alternative image
to that shown above, with Hob Moor Road crossing the River Cole in the distance. Heliports in England 1951 establishments in England Transport in Birmingham, West Midlands 1954 disestablishments in England