This corner of south west Middlesex is steeped in aviation history. First was the Hounslow Heath airfield, roughly where the golf course is now situated.
Next was Hanworth Air Park, where the airships were based, it's now a large green belt open space and retains the original name.
It was followed by Heston Aerodrome (later Airport) which was located on the site of the present M4 services.
In the 1930s, Heston was one of two main airports for London (with Croydon) while Heathrow was the test airfield for Fairey Aviation and known as the Great West Aerodrome (possibly because of the proximity of the recently built Brentford/Hounslow bypass known as Great West Road (A4)).
This later became RAF Heathrow during wartime and a civil airport from 1946. At that time because of their proximity, Heston was closed.
Heathrow was predominantly longhaul (BOAC base) with shorthaul (BEA BASE) at Northolt until 1953 when all civil aviation took place at Heathrow.
Last edited by Fairdealfrank; 23rd Nov 2012 at 21:50.