London Elstree Aerodrome is an operational

general aviation General aviation (GA) is defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as all civil aviation aircraft operations with the exception of commercial air transport or aerial work, which is defined as specialized aviation services ...

aerodrome An aerodrome (Commonwealth English) or airdrome (American English) is a location from which aircraft flight operations take place, regardless of whether they involve air cargo, passengers, or neither, and regardless of whether it is for publi ...

located in

Elstree Elstree is a large village in the Hertsmere borough of Hertfordshire, England. It is about northwest of central London on the former A5 road, that follows the course of Watling Street. In 2011, its population was 5,110. It forms part of t ...

, situated east of

Watford Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, and ...

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For gov ...

, England. Elstree Aerodrome has

Civil Aviation Authority A civil aviation authority (CAA) is a national or supranational statutory authority that oversees the regulation of civil aviation, including the maintenance of an aircraft register. Role Due to the inherent dangers in the use of flight vehicles, ...

Ordinary Licence P486, which allows flights for the purpose of the public transport of passengers and for the purpose of instruction in flying. It is licensed for night flying. The licensee is Montclare Shipping Company Ltd. The aerodrome has one asphalt runway (08/26) aligned roughly east–west. The runway is 651 meters (2,136 feet) in length making it suitable for most light aircraft up to the size of a King Air or

Pilatus PC-12 The Pilatus PC-12 is a pressurized, single-engined, turboprop aircraft, manufactured by Pilatus Aircraft of Stans, Switzerland, since 1991. It was designed as a high-performance utility aircraft that incorporates a large aft cargo door in ...

. The runway has a steep 9% gradient.

History

During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

Westland Lysander The Westland Lysander is a British army co-operation and liaison aircraft produced by Westland Aircraft that was used immediately before and during the Second World War. After becoming obsolete in the army co-operation role, the aircraft' ...

aircraft were tested at Elstree. Elstree also hosted a

Link Trainer The term Link Trainer, also known as the "Blue box" and "Pilot Trainer" is commonly used to refer to a series of flight simulators produced between the early 1930s and early 1950s by Link Aviation Devices, founded and headed by Ed Link, based o ...

flight simulator. 124 Gliding School was formed at Elstree in August 1943. The airfield is owned and operated by the

Gibbs family An asteroid family is a population of asteroids that share similar proper orbital elements, such as semimajor axis, eccentricity, and orbital inclination. The members of the families are thought to be fragments of past asteroid collisions. An a ...

, who have long been associated with the Elstree area.

Operations

Aerial view of Elstree Aerodrome, Hertfordshire, England

The aerodrome was returned to civil aircraft operations in 1946. There is a large wartime built Bellman hangar and a number of smaller hangars. Residents include aeroplane and helicopter schools, charter companies and maintenance services. Some areas of the airfield are occasionally used for filming.

Airport information

Prior permission (PPR) is required to land. A flight information service for arriving, departing or transiting aircraft is provided by "Elstree Information" on the frequency of 122.405 MHz, and on the same frequency when required under the designation of "Elstree Radio" if the service requires downgrading due to staffing availability.

Accidents

References

Bibliography

*Richard Riding and Grant Peerless, ''Elstree Aerodrome: The Past in Pictures'', The History Press Ltd (26 November 2003), , , 192 pages.

External links

* *
Official Facebook site

Elstree Aerodrome
in 1986, at the BBC Domesday Project online, retrieved 22 Sep 2011 {{authority control Airports in England Airports in the London region Transport in Hertfordshire Aldenham