Heston 'Tempest' crash
My candidate for the Winchester Avenue crash , a Fairey Firefly, has been identified by Lee Howard (FAA specialist via Air-Britain abix forum) as Firefly Z2051 which 'suffered engine failure on take-off, turned over and dived in 1mile East of Heston Airfield on 12 September 1945,Sub Lt H Walsh of 799 Sqdn being killed'. I still need to find my published source to confirm the crash site, and I suppose we need to check what other fighter types (Tempests? Spitfires?)crashed in West Middlesex in the early post-war period.
Re the airfield size, the 1934 figures (possibly the original 1927 dimensions) were enough for Roscoe Turner's Boeing 247 to visit prior to the Mildenhall -Melbourne race....there's a pic (in a book!).I think the airfield was expanded in 2 stages the 2nd (1938?) requiring the closure of a footpath from Berkeley School field towards the canal bridge leading to Regina Rd