PPRuNe Forums - View Single Post - West London Airfields (Heston, Hanworth, and Hounslow)
Old 30th Aug 2007, 17:47
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kms901
 
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: pietralunga
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Hi there. Hanworth is a pet subject of mine, having lived next to it. It is certainly still big enough for a light aircraft to get into, as long as there are no goalposts up !

The house in the trees just North of the centre was the "Terminal". To the left are four blocks of flats that were built postwar. Behind them are 1930's bungalows, built single story as they were under the approach bath. Sadly, the only remaining small hangar is at the south end of Hanworth Airpark. The area to the northeast with all the buildings did have all the hangars on it but is now a "leisure complex". After the airfield fell out of use, they were the Aston Martin factory. I can remember my father teaching my mother to drive around the perimeter track.
Even the model aircraft are very restricted. Many years ago a local nimby got up a large local petition complaining about aircraft noise (not difficult within 2 mile of Heathrow). he used this to persuade the council to limit model flying hours.

The local pub is called The Airman. It is the only pub of that name in the UK. During WW11 the landlord's daughter married a test pilot called Seth-Smith, who sadly was killed. She then married another pilot who became Chief Pilot of The Queen's Flight. They are both still alive and well. Their son is a friend of mine, and he tells me that as a child he was given exhilarating rides around the track by the likes of Stirling, Moss, Mike Hawthorn and Denys Jenkinson. Lucky Man
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