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Rochester Airport also known as Rochester Airfield, is a small airstrip located south of Rochester in
South East England South East England is one of the nine official regions of England, regions of England that are in the ITL 1 statistical regions of England, top level category for Statistics, statistical purposes. It consists of the nine counties of england, ...
, with the
River Medway The River Medway is a river in South East England. It rises in the High Weald AONB, High Weald, West Sussex and flows through Tonbridge, Maidstone and the Medway conurbation in Kent, before emptying into the Thames Estuary near Sheerness, a to ...
from the end of runway 34, from Chatham and its Historic Dockyard and the
Medway Medway is a Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in the ceremonial county of Kent in South East England. It was formed in 1998 by merging the boroughs of City of Roche ...
area. Rochester Aerodrome has a CAA Ordinary Licence (Number P846) that allows flights for the public transport of passengers or for flying instruction as authorised by the licensee (Rochester Airport PLC). The airfield currently has no scheduled flights, and is only used to store privately owned aircraft in a cram hangar.


1933-1945

Rochester City Council compulsory purchased the land at Rochester Airfield in September 1933 from the landowner as the site for a municipal airport. One month later
Short Brothers Short Brothers plc, usually referred to as Shorts or Short, is an aerospace company based in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Shorts was founded in 1908 in London, and was the first company in the world to make production aeroplanes. It was particu ...
, who had started building aircraft in 1909 on the
Isle of Sheppey The Isle of Sheppey is an island off the northern coast of Kent, England, neighbouring the Thames Estuary, centred from central London. It has an area of . The island forms part of the districts of England, local government district of Borough ...
, asked for permission to lease the land for test flying and thus began the privileged relationship between the local authority and the aviation industry. The inaugural flight into Rochester was from
Gravesend Gravesend is a town in northwest Kent, England, situated 21 miles (35 km) east-southeast of Charing Cross (central London) on the Bank (geography), south bank of the River Thames, opposite Tilbury in Essex. Located in the diocese of Roche ...
, with John Parker flying their
Short Scion The Short S.16 Scion and Scion II were 1930s United Kingdom, British two-engine, cantilever monoplanes built by Short Brothers and (under licence) by Pobjoy Airmotors, Pobjoy Airmotors and Aircraft Ltd. in Rochester, Kent between 1933 and 1937 ...
, G-ACJI, powered by Pobjoy engines. Civilian services started with flights from Rochester to
Southend Airport Southend-on-Sea (), commonly referred to as Southend (), is a coastal city and unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in south-eastern Essex, England. It lies on the nor ...
in June 1934 at a cost of 12
shillings The shilling is a historical coin, and the name of a unit of modern currencies formerly used in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, other British Commonwealth countries and Ireland, where they were generally equivalent to 12 pence ...
(60p) for the return trip. In 1934-5 Short Brothers took over the Rochester Airport site when they moved some of their personnel from the existing
seaplane A seaplane is a powered fixed-wing aircraft capable of takeoff, taking off and water landing, landing (alighting) on water.Gunston, "The Cambridge Aerospace Dictionary", 2009. Seaplanes are usually divided into two categories based on their tech ...
works. Pobjoy Airmotors Ltd moved to Rochester at the same time to be closer to Short Brothers, to whom they were contracted for production of aircraft engines for the Short Scion. Financial difficulties led to a capital investment by Shorts in Pobjoy and the eventual assimilation of Pobjoy. The
Air Ministry The Air Ministry was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom with the responsibility of managing the affairs of the Royal Air Force and civil aviation that existed from 1918 to 1964. It was under the political authority of the ...
licensed Short Brothers in 1936 to design and build a four-engined high-wing
monoplane A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft configuration with a single mainplane, in contrast to a biplane or other types of multiplanes, which have multiple wings. A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing con ...
. An initial half-scale model S3, serial M4, flew at Rochester on 19 September 1938. The first prototype S29 came out of its hangar on 14 May 1939. The flight was perfect but the landing gear collapsed on touch down. Later developments led to the first 4-engined
heavy bomber Heavy bombers are bomber Fixed-wing aircraft, aircraft capable of delivering the largest payload of air-to-ground weaponry (usually Aerial bomb, bombs) and longest range (aeronautics), range (takeoff to landing) of their era. Archetypal heavy ...
to serve in the
Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...
, the Short S.29 Stirling. Short Brothers continued to build seaplanes on the
Esplanade An esplanade or promenade is a long, open, level area, usually next to a river or large body of water, where people may walk. The historical definition of ''esplanade'' was a large, open, level area outside fortress or city walls to provide cle ...
at Rochester supplying the growing market for
flying boat A flying boat is a type of seaplane with a hull, allowing it to land on water. It differs from a floatplane in having a fuselage that is purpose-designed for flotation, while floatplanes rely on fuselage-mounted floats for buoyancy. Though ...
s. In 1938, No. 23 Elementary and Reserve Flying Training School RAF ( No. 26 Group RAF) came to Rochester. No 1
hangar A hangar is a building or structure designed to hold aircraft or spacecraft. Hangars are built of metal, wood, or concrete. The word ''hangar'' comes from Middle French ''hanghart'' ("enclosure near a house"), of Germanic origin, from Frankish ...
was built for the RAF and for the
Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...
and to house Avro Tutors. The school was managed by Shorts and they still exist fronting the Maidstone Road. Rochester airport was bombed heavily during the war by a wing of
Dornier Do 17 The Dornier Do 17 is a twin-engined light bomber designed and produced by the German aircraft manufacturer Dornier Flugzeugwerke. Large numbers were operated by the ''Luftwaffe'' throughout the Second World War. The Do 17 was designed during ...
s on 15 August 1940. Many bombs scored hits on the factory and the runways. Spitfires of No. 54 Squadron RAF from
RAF Hornchurch Royal Air Force Hornchurch, or more simply RAF Hornchurch, is a former Royal Air Force List of former Royal Air Force stations, sector station in the parish of Hornchurch, Essex (now the London Borough of Havering in Greater London), located to ...
successfully intercepted some of the marauders. Stirling production was put back by at least a year and in the end was dispersed to other parts of the country as well as Rochester. The following units were also here at some point: * No. 16 Group Communication Flight RAF (September 1939 - June 1941 & January 1945 - March 1946) * No. 24 Elementary Flying Training School RAF (March 1946 - April 1947) became No. 24 Reserve Flying School RAF (May 1947 - March 1953) * No. 168 Gliding School RAF (January 1945 - June 1949)


Post War

Shorts concentrated their work in
Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...
, leaving the Medway towns in 1946. For six years 1947-53 the RAF 24 Elementary Flying School Training School was transferred to Rochester and was renamed "Reserve Flying School". The unit was disbanded in 1953. Previous employees of Shorts joined the Shorts gliding club at Rochester and developed a prototype aircraft called the "Nimbus", in an attempt to keep aircraft production at Rochester. Passenger flights to and from the continent expanded in the 1950s and 60's using
Douglas DC-3 The Douglas DC-3 is a propeller-driven airliner manufactured by the Douglas Aircraft Company, which had a lasting effect on the airline industry in the 1930s to 1940s and World War II. It was developed as a larger, improved 14-bed sleeper ...
s ( Dakotas) and
de Havilland Dove The de Havilland DH.104 Dove is a British short-haul airliner developed and manufactured by de Havilland. The design, which was a monoplane successor to the pre-war Dragon Rapide biplane, came about from the Brabazon Committee report which, a ...
s operated by
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. S ...
but with stringent requirement of the Civil Aviation Authority, operators had to re-locate from Rochester. In 1979 the lease reverted to the council and after giving thorough consideration to closing the airport the
General Electric Company plc The General Electric Company (GEC) was a major British industrial conglomerate involved in consumer and defence electronics, communications, and engineering. It was originally founded in 1886 as G. Binswanger and Company as an electrical good ...
comprising
Marconi Electronic Systems Marconi Electronic Systems Limited (MES), or GEC-Marconi as it was until 1998, was the defence arm of General Electric Company (GEC). It was split off from GEC and bought by British Aerospace (BAe) on 30 November 1999 to form BAE Systems. GEC ...
and instrument makers
Elliott Automation Elliott Brothers (London) Ltd was an early computer company of the 1950s and 1960s in the United Kingdom. It traced its descent from a firm of instrument makers founded by William Elliott in London around 1804. The research laboratories were o ...
decided to take over management of the airport maintaining two runways as grass whilst releasing some land for light industrial expansion. In 1999 a group of aviators and local businessmen at Rochester formed a company dedicated to the preservation and promotion of the long tradition of aviation at Rochester Airport, its service to the local community and for its longer-term preservation. The historic site of Rochester Airport was saved from closure for the short term by the efforts of this group of local business people, in the face of pressure by the Labour controlled Local Council to re-zone the airport site as Industrial Development land. Rochester Airport plc, proposed to continue operation of the airport even though the timescale given for takeover was minuscule. They want to continue, as far as possible, the existing services provided for private, business and emergency aviation services and enhance them to bring increased economic benefit to Medway, its surrounding area, its businesses and its community. Significant voluntary work has contributed to the financial viability of Rochester Airport which has been operated on a care and maintenance basis in light of the difficulty in securing a proper lease. The airport now had a five-year lease, outside of the
Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 The Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 ( 2 & 3 Eliz. 2. c. 56) is an act of the United Kingdom Parliament extending to England and Wales. Part I of the act (sections 1-21), which dealt with the protection of residential tenancies, is now largely supe ...
, which expired in January 2009, and entered a crucial phase of negotiation with Medway Council. On 13 January 2009 a fresh lease, with conditions, was granted to Rochester Airport Operating company. This length of lease is still insufficient to attract any real investment and, although the years of decay have been halted, no real improvements are financially possible for the benefit of the airport's users. 90% of the Microlight fleet relocated to Damyns Hall Aerodrome near Upminster. One of the long-established flight schools has gone into administration.


2010 onwards

In 2013 the Conservative-led Medway Council announced their wish for some of the airport land to be separated off and developed for industrial use. This proposal would close one of the runways but allow some of the money raised by development to pay for improvements to the runway that would remain. An invitation to tender was issued and the existing operator became the preferred bidder after the closing date of 12 March 2013. Precise details of how the council proposesd to finance the scheme prior to the development plans being implemented was unclear. Local ward councillors were very enthusiastic about the proposals and once they are implemented should see the Airport being available for use for a greater part of the year due to an all-weather surface being planned for the 02/20 runway. It is hoped this will make the airport operation more sustainable and help finance some of the proposed initiatives. February 2015: Although a Planning application to make improvements to the Airport were approved by Medway Council, a vociferous local objector went to the high court asking for a judicial review of the planning approval. The council lost and the aerodrome operator had to make a new application which again incurred significant expense in order to satisfy the judge's ruling that an Environmental Impact Study should made. This further delay caused the operation company (Rochester Airport Ltd) to split the application into two parts, one application for the runway and one application for the refurbishment of the 1930s-built hangar and the building of a tower and replacement hangar and workshops for the Medway Aircraft Preservation Society (MAPS). The refurbishment of the original 1930s hangar, a new tower and hub building providing improved facilities for the Pilots And Friends of Rochester Airport (PAFRA) and for local business, recreational and business flyers. In 2019 works to update the airfield began. As part of these, runway 16/34 was decommissioned. It is expected that the first stage of these works will see the setting up of a light industrial area in the northern part of the airfield. Later on, airfield management hope to rebuild the hangars and construct a new terminal building. The long-term plan includes the upgrade of the existing grass runway 02/20, which will see grass replaced with a hard surface.


Head up display manufacture

The first contract for heads-up displays was for 800 Saab Viggen aircraft in 1965, when at Sydenham. Few companies made head up displays in 1965, and Britain was more advanced than the US in this field of manufacture, and it had been invented in the UK by Frank Clarke, who sold it to Smiths. Peter Hearne led the GEC development. It made the heads-up displays for the
SEPECAT Jaguar The SEPECAT Jaguar is a British-French supersonic jet attack aircraft originally used by the British Royal Air Force and the French Air Force in the close air support and nuclear strike role. As of 2025, the Jaguar remains in service with the ...
. The head up display for F-16 was made by GEC (and also most of RAF aircraft). There was a $57m contract for 650 USAF F-16s, and 348 F-16s for Belgium, Denmark, Norway and the Netherlands. In total there would be about 2,000 F-16 head-up displays manufactured, from 1978. There was a C-17 contract in 1989, and for 75 American Airlines
Boeing 737 The Boeing 737 is an American narrow-body aircraft, narrow-body aircraft produced by Boeing at its Boeing Renton Factory, Renton factory in Washington (state), Washington. Developed to supplement the Boeing 727 on short and thin routes, the t ...
aircraft in 1998. Its competitor was Flight Dynamics. Smiths Industries, of Gloucestershire, built the
Panavia Tornado The Panavia Tornado is a family of twin-engine, variable-sweep wing multi-role combat aircraft, jointly developed and manufactured by Italy, the United Kingdom and Germany. There are three primary #Variants, Tornado variants: the Tornado IDS ...
head-up display, and possibly for the Hawk. 1,100 F-15s were fitted with Smiths heads-up displays in the early 1990s, and the Eurofighter had Smiths head-up displays.''Times'' Friday December 11 1992, page 24


References

;Citations ;Bibliography *


External links

{{Commons category, Rochester Airport (Kent)
Official site
Aircraft assembly plants in England Airports established in 1933 Airports in Kent Economy of Kent
Airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial Aviation, air transport. They usually consist of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surf ...
Transport in Medway 1933 establishments in England