Miles monoplane landing at Heston Airport
I am researching an event which I witnessed at Heston Airport sometime around 1955/6 or 1959/60 but did not record at the time and remains unanswered. Having been born at Heston and lived there until 1964 , I gained an interest in aviation at the age of twelve, and have recently gained a historical collection of books, magazine pictures etc of the Airport's history.
One evening, possibly in the late autumn just as dusk was starting to fall, I observed a single engined monoplane circling Heston very low and it was apparent that the pilot was intending to land on the old airfield. This was a surprise since at that time a large part of the airfield had been dug up for gravel pits and the Airport had been officially closed since 1947. I jumped onto my bicycle and rode to where I was able to gain access to the airfield where I saw a Miles Hawk Trainer (believed to be G-ADWT ) parked on the last remaining strip of grass next to my old Berkeley Junior School's playing field. By that time there was no sign of the pilot or anyone to query why this aircraft had landed there, the engine was switched off, so I resolved to go back home to fetch my box camera. On returning however, it was already getting quite dark and the aircraft was being manhandled
much further away into a distant hangar owned by Heston Aircraft and the doors closed. Unfortunately I have never been able to find out the reason for this impromptu landing, bearing in mind that busy Heathrow traffic was less than a mile away from Heston and the circumstance of this unscheduled arrival.