Ipswich Airport was an

airfield 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 pub ...

on the outskirts of

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and borough in Suffolk, England, of which it is the county town. The town is located in East Anglia about away from the mouth of the River Orwell and the North Sea. Ipswich is both on the Great Eastern Main Line ...

, Suffolk

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. It was known as RAF Nacton when No. 3619 Fighter Control Unit of the Royal Auxiliary Air Force were based there.

History

The site of Ravens Wood was purchased by the

Ipswich Corporation The Ipswich Corporation was a historic local government that owned property and governed in Ipswich, Suffolk. Since its foundation in 1200, the corporation has kept often highly detailed accounts of their operation. A great deal of these survive t ...

in 1929 with the intention of creating a municipal airport for Ipswich, with construction starting in the following year. The airport was officially opened by Prince Edward on 26 June 1930, who described the facility as "one of the finest in the country". In February 1936 the airfield was taken over by the Straight Corporation. They formed Ipswich Airport Ltd to manage it and took over Ipswich Aero Club which was already established at the airfield. The corporation's architects, Henning and Chitty, designed a new terminal building which was opened on 9 May 1938, with an official opening ceremony on 9 July. The building was Grade 2 listed in 1996; having been described as "very rare and early example of this type of construction".

Southern Airways Southern Airways was a regional airline (known at the time as a "local-service air carrier" as designated by the federal Civil Aeronautics Board) in the United States, from its founding by Frank Hulse in 1949 until 1979, when it merged with ...

, another Straight company, operated routes to Clacton and to Ramsgate and Ilford, with a request stop at

Southend Southend-on-Sea (), commonly referred to as Southend (), is a coastal city and unitary authority area with borough status in southeastern Essex, England. It lies on the north side of the Thames Estuary, east of central London. It is bordered ...

, mainly using

Short Scion The Short S.16 Scion and Scion II were 1930s British two-engine, cantilever monoplanes built by Short Brothers and (under licence) by Pobjoy Airmotors and Aircraft Ltd. in Rochester, Kent between 1933 and 1937. Altogether 22 Scion/Scion II a ...

aircraft. In 1938 the Aero Club expanded its training role by taking part in the

Civil Air Guard The Civil Air Guard (C.A.G.) was established by the UK Government in July 1938 to encourage and subsidise pilot training as the prospect of another war loomed. Subsidised tuition for members of participating civilian flying clubs was offered in ex ...

scheme, and on 3 July 1939 No. 37 Elementary and Reserve Flying Training school (E&RFTS) was set up here. Straight Corporation established an engine workshop in 1939, which worked for their own fleet and also took on outside work. After 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 ...

the airport offered scheduled flights to Southend and

Jersey Jersey ( , ; nrf, Jèrri, label= Jèrriais ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey (french: Bailliage de Jersey, links=no; Jèrriais: ), is an island country and self-governing Crown Dependency near the coast of north-west France. It is the l ...

Channel Airways Channel Airways was a private airline formed in the United Kingdom in 1946 as East Anglian Flying Services. The newly formed airline initially operated aerial joy rides with a single, three-seater aircraft from an airstrip on the Kent coast. Sc ...

and later to

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...

and

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

by Suckling Airways. A number of chartered flights were operated by

air taxi An air taxi is a small commercial aircraft that makes short flights on demand. In 2001 air taxi operations were promoted in the United States by a NASA and aerospace industry study on the potential Small Aircraft Transportation System (SATS) ...

firm, Hawk Air.

From its earliest days, the airport was home to a wide variety of privately owned and

flying club A flying club or aero club is a not-for-profit, member-run organization that provides its members with affordable access to aircraft. Many clubs also provide flight training, flight planning facilities, pilot supplies and associated services, as ...

operated aircraft. Aircraft maintenance services were provided in the 1930-built hangar by a succession of based aviation engineering firms. In the 1980s it was home to a thriving parachuting club.

Military

The following units were posted here at some point:

Closure

The council, who owned the site, commissioned a development report in 1990 for the site. On the basis of its findings which determined better use of the site for development the Council decided to close the airfield in 1993. This announcement signalled the start of the campaigns to keep the airport operating as such, and it was thought the airport had been saved when the council allowed businesses to stay in operation with rolling leases, and projects to upgrade the air traffic control systems in September 1996. The airfield was delicensed and ceased to be registered by the Civil Aviation Authority on 31 December 1996. Not through lack of use, nor through public pressure; following the announcement of intention to close by Ipswich Borough Council in late September 1996, there were petitions to keep the site as an operating airport, this culminated with a sit-in which started on 1 January 1997; the last aircraft left over a year later in January 1998 The site has since been redeveloped as the Ravenswood housing estate; the Grade II listed terminal building was partly demolished to facilitate its conversion into a community centre and

flats Flat or flats may refer to: Architecture * Flat (housing), an apartment in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia and other Commonwealth countries Arts and entertainment * Flat (music), a symbol () which denotes a lower pitch * Flat (soldier), ...

by Ashwell Property Group. Externally, the building retains some resemblance to the original building.

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * John Myerscough, "Airport Provision in the Inter-War Years", ''Journal of Contemporary History'' 20 (1985) pp. 41–70

External links

Ipswich Airport Association

{{Defunct airports in the United Kingdom Defunct airports in England Grade II listed buildings in Ipswich Airports established in 1930 Airports disestablished in 1998 1930 establishments in England 1998 disestablishments in England Transport in Ipswich Grade II listed airports Airports in the East of England