Blackbushe Airport

Royal Air Force

The airport started life in 1942 as RAF Hartford Bridge, and it was used by RAF squadrons throughout the remainder of Second World War for reconnaissance, defence and strike operations using Spitfires and Mosquitoes. It was also the home of the Free French Squadron (Lorraine).

A number of important people landed at the airport including King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, Supreme Allied Commander General Dwight D. Eisenhower and Field Marshal Montgomery.

The RAF Station was closed on 15 November 1946.

Ministry of Civil Aviation

In February 1947 the airfield was opened as Blackbushe Airport under the control of the Ministry of Civil Aviation. Full customs facilities were provided for both air transport operators and the private owners of light and executive aircraft.

During the next ten years, Blackbushe airport became a major base for a number of UK cargo and charter operators including Airwork Services, Britavia and British Eagle. These operators, and others at the airport, also specialised in the maintenance and major overhaul of various types of airliners from around the world, using the wartime "Bellman" hangars on both sides of the A30 road for this activity.

Overseas-based charter airlines often used Blackbushe for their flight to the UK, normally finding that the airfield was open for operations, even when other airports in the London area were closed by fog. The airfield's hilltop position helped in this respect. The Avro Yorks of Tropic Airways of Johannesburg visited for several years.

Blackbushe was used as a major location for the 1956 film The Crooked Sky in which the former RAF station buildings and then current commercial aircraft are seen.

United States Navy operations

From the early 1950s, the United States Navy (USN) had a facility on the north-east edge of the airport which frequently handled visiting naval aircraft. These included patrol types such as the Lockheed P2V Neptune and the Martin P4M Mercator. Large USN transports that used the airport regularly were the Douglas R5D Skymaster and Douglas R6D Liftmaster. In 1955 USN UK-based communications and liaison aircraft of FASRON 200, previously attached to RAF Hendon, in north London, were switched to Blackbushe.

On 31 May 1960 the airport closed.

Private ownership

The airport passed into private ownership and was formally reopened as a general aviation field on 6 October 1962. This was not without a fight to reopen this airport as there were many objections however it was due to one man and his resolve Air Vice Marshal Donald Clif ford Tyndall Bennett, CB, CBE, DSO Born in Toowoomba Australia best known for his RAF Path Finder exploits in WW2 and his heroic escape after being Shot down during the raid on the German Battleship Tirpitz, he evaded capture and escaped to Sweden, from where he was able to return to Britain.

HAMPSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL Planning Committee rejected an application on August 25 1961 two applications for the development of a private aerodrome on the site of Blackbushe Airport. The applications, made by AVM Donald Bennett, were for the use of an area of 325 acres as a private aerodrome, and for the erection of aircraft hangars. The vice-chairman of the committee, Lord Porchester, said that the Ministry of Aviation was now supporting AVM Bennett in his attempt to re-open Blackbushe for private flying. The reported reasons for the committee's decision were that most of the land was to be an open space, the proposal would be detrimental to the amenities of Yateley village, and it would interfere with safety and traffic flow on the Basingstoke - London trunk road. Despite many objections AVM Don (Pathfinder) Bennett battled the red tape and finally owned and opened the Aerodrome in 1962.

The airport became a base for a large collection of historic World War II aircraft, including four Junkers Ju 52s, six Douglas DC-3s and a number of smaller planes, such as Spitfires, which were rarely seen on the tarmac. The finest was, perhaps, a Heinkel bomber which, unfortunately, was sold in order to purchase a replacement which then crashed soon afterwards.

Later, British Car Auctions took over the airport and developed it as a centre of private, business and executive aviation.

Description

Blackbushe is situated alongside the A30 road between Camberley and Hook. It used to straddle both sides of the A30, with road traffic having to wait whilst airliners were towed across this busy road. The southside was used for aircraft maintenance, utilising wartime-built hangars. Today, only part of the airfield section that lay north of the A30 remains in active use. The traditional name for the flat piece of land on which it is sited is Hartford Bridge Flats. The nearest towns are Yateley and Fleet.

Unless looking at aerial views or maps, it is hard to visualise that this was once a significant airport for passenger and cargo charter flights for the London area.

It is one of several airfields eclipsed since 1958 by the growth of London Heathrow Airport and London Gatwick Airport. Currently based aircraft include several corporate helicopters and a dealership for Beechcraft. From 1 April 1998 The Queen's Helicopter has been based there.

On 15 July 1978, the airfield was the location for an open-air concert, the Picnic at Blackbushe, which was attended by some 200,000 people. Bob Dylan headlined, with support from Eric Clapton, Joan Armatrading, Graham Parker and the Rumour, Lake, and Merger.

The airport is now open to the general public, and is also popular for walks around its perimeter and to see the wildlife in Yateley Common and Castle Bottom National Nature reserve.

Accidents and incidents