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ex82watcher

10th Aug 2019 18:40

RNAS Ford.

Speaking to my brother the other day,who lives just down the road from Ford,he told me there are plans afoot to build several thousand houses on the former airfield.Anyone know when this was last used for flying purposes ?

Planemike

10th Aug 2019 19:05

Just done a little "sleuthing", closed in 1980. I remember going there in the 1970s. The FAA probably moved out in the 1960s. The new residents will have an open prison as their neighbour.

Wyvernfan

10th Aug 2019 19:26

As the in service home of the Westland Wyvern I’ve always hoped that a museum had been set up on the old Airfield. Ford has such a long and rich aviation history going way back to the First World War, and I’m sure a museum recording and remembering its past would of been warmly received by the locals and a welcome tourist attraction for the local area.

If I lived closer than the 130 miles away that I currently do then this would of been my goal.

ex82watcher

10th Aug 2019 19:35

Planemike,I must have been one of the last to use it then,I have just dug-out my logbook and I see that I flew from there in C172,GBGBO destination Biggin Hill,on 6/1/80.We had earlier flown in from Lydd with myself as a passenger,in order to meet an Islander which had flown-in from Bembridge,and either collect a passenger from this aircraft,or drop off a passenger for the Islander,I don't remember which.

ex82watcher

10th Aug 2019 19:47

Wyvernfan,though not exactly a museum,there is a reminder of Fords past in the form of a Hunter atop a pole at the entrance to the 'Hunterford' industrial estate .

Wyvernfan

10th Aug 2019 20:04

Quote:

Originally Posted by ex82watcher (Post 10542020)

Wyvernfan,though not exactly a museum,there is a reminder of Fords past in the form of a Hunter atop a pole at the entrance to the 'Hunterford' industrial estate .

Indeed there is, I saw it in 2017 and on my last visit last year when I exhibited my Wyvern cockpit representation at the Yapton and Ford Local History Group exhibition in nearby Yapton.

Herod

10th Aug 2019 20:33

The picture on Google Earth says "WW654" That makes her a Mk 4, born March '55.

DaveReidUK

11th Aug 2019 01:07

Quote:

Originally Posted by Herod (Post 10542054)

The picture on Google Earth says "WW654" That makes her a Mk 4, born March '55.

But, like many F.4s, converted to a GA.11.

chevvron

11th Aug 2019 06:30

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaveReidUK (Post 10542170)

But, like many F.4s, converted to a GA.11.

I flew over Ford many times in the period 1976 until it closed; the guy who owned it had great plans for developing it but I suppose the local planners and NIMBYs had other ideas.
ICAO location indicator EGKF was issued.

Nomad2

11th Aug 2019 06:36

Sadly, airfields are designated as 'brown field' sites for planning purposes.

So even though an airfield looks more like a farm, it's treated like an old steelworks when it comes to a decision on its future.

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