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Hatfield Aerodrome | |||||||||||||||
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| Summary | |||||||||||||||
| Airport type | Closed | ||||||||||||||
| Owner | de Havilland Aircraft Company (1930–1960) Hawker Siddeley (1960–1977) British Aerospace (1977–closure) | ||||||||||||||
| Location | Hatfield,Hertfordshire 3NM NE ofSt Albans | ||||||||||||||
| In use | 1930–1994 | ||||||||||||||
| Elevation AMSL | 254 ft / 77 m | ||||||||||||||
| Coordinates | 51°45′57″N0°15′03″W / 51.76583°N 0.25083°W /51.76583; -0.25083 | ||||||||||||||
| Map | |||||||||||||||
  Hatfield Aerodrome Location within Hertfordshire | |||||||||||||||
| Runways | |||||||||||||||
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| Source:Pooley's Flight Guide United Kingdom & Ireland 1988[1] | |||||||||||||||
Hatfield Aerodrome (IATA:HTF,ICAO:EGTH) was a private airfield andaircraft factory located in the English town ofHatfield inHertfordshire from 1930 until its closure and redevelopment in the 1990s.
Geoffrey de Havilland, pioneering aircraft designer and founder of thede Havilland Aircraft Company purchased some farmland close to Hatfield as his existing site atStag Lane,Edgware was being encroached upon by expanding housing developments in theLondon suburbs. Flying commenced in 1930, but the clubhouse buildings and adjacent recreational facilities, fuel pumps and sheds were not completed until 1933.
Hatfield's former ICAO code, EGTH, was reallocated toOld Warden Aerodrome in Bedfordshire.
In 1934 significant works were undertaken at the site and a large factory and imposingArt Deco administration buildings were constructed together with a flying school building which also housed flying control. Later, an experimental block was added to the north of the factory. Production of aircraft moved from Stag Lane and during this time principally consisted of a range of small biplanes such as the Moth family,DH.84 Dragon,DH.86 Express andDH.89 Dragon Rapide.
During theSecond World War, de Havilland was most noted for itsMosquito fighter bomber, the famous 'Wooden wonder'. This was developed privately atSalisbury Hall, outside of Hatfield to avoid being targeted by German bombers. The Hatfield site itself wascamouflaged but was bombed on 3 October 1940 by aJunkers Ju 88. Four bombs hit the '94 shop' building, killing 21, injuring more than 70 and disrupting work on the Mosquito.The Junkers Ju 88 was hit and brought down by the crew of aBofors gun on the airfield commanded by Sgt 'Mont' Chapman, crashing a few kilometres away near East End Green: the crew survived and were captured by local farmworkers.[2]
A hardrunway was laid in 1947. Expansion of the facilities was called for by rapid development of military and civil jet aircraft such as theVampire andComet. The factory was enlarged and a new flight testhangar and control tower was constructed. Additionally, a large design block was constructed alongside the administration buildings.
De Havilland had been developing and manufacturingpropellers and piston engines in addition to airframes. Post-war, the engine company continued developing jet engines, with testing taking place at Manor Road and production at nearbyLeavesden. The propeller company moved into developingrockets,guided missiles and Britain's ballistic missile, theBlue Streak. Production facilities, test facilities,wind tunnels, water tanks, hangars and an administration building were located on the Manor Road site, on the opposite side of the main runway to the aircraft factories.
The de Havilland Aircraft Company was acquired byHawker Siddeley in 1960 and the de Havilland name ceased to be used in 1963. At Hatfield, theTrident airliner andDH.125 were under development in the early 1960s, with production of the latter taking place at de Havilland's other factory atHawarden. Design studies forfeederliners that would ultimately lead to theHS.146 took place as well as studies for a pan-European aircraft, the HBN.100 which would eventually become theAirbus A300. Hatfield once again changed ownership when Hawker Siddeley was merged with theBritish Aircraft Corporation andScottish Aviation under theAircraft and Shipbuilding Industries Act to formBritish Aerospace in 1978. This resulted in the 146 programme going ahead, which saved many jobs at Hatfield and secured the site as a centre of design and production of commercial aircraft for the next decade.
The 146 first flew in 1981 and production of some components, final assembly and flight testing of the first two series of the aircraft was based at Hatfield during the early and mid-1980s. In 1987, a new final assembly hall was built for 146 production to coincide with the introduction of the stretched 146-300 derivative. Further development resulted in the demolition of the 1930s flying club buildings to make way for the Bishop Square office block development, constructed in 1991 and named in honour of Comet designerR.E. Bishop.
In 1992, due to severe financial problems, British Aerospace announced the cessation of aircraft production at Hatfield from 1993. By then, work at the Manor Road site, which had become part ofBAe Dynamics, had wound down and this site was cleared first. Friday 8 April 1994 was Hatfield's last day as an airfield, when aDH Chipmunk – the type that had made the first landing on the new runway – was the last plane to take off from the main runway, followed by a DH Tiger Moth – carrying a De Havilland flag – which took off from the grass at the side of the runway.[3]
The airfield closed but was later used as a film set forSaving Private Ryan and the television seriesBand of Brothers.
Arlington Securities, then the property division of BAE Systems, began the redevelopment of the main airfield site in the late 1990s. Only theGrade II* listed[4] 1950s flight test hangar and administration buildings were retained: all other buildings, the taxiways and the runway were removed to make way for offices, businesses and homes. Today the flight test hangar survives as a leisure centre, whilst the rest of the site is divided between theUniversity of Hertfordshire, housing and a business park.[5]
The Hatfield Aerodrome History Trail was officially opened on 24 November 2010. It forms part of aHeritage Lottery Fund project by theUniversity of Hertfordshire to mark the 80th anniversary of the opening of the airfield.
The trail is around 4 km long and takes around 90 minutes to walk; a shorter version is around 3 km and takes around 60 minutes. There are ten information boards located around the trail. The first board, at the start of the trail, is outside the University of Hertfordshire's de Havilland Campus (the university's origins can be traced back to the de Havilland Technical School). A leaflet with a map of the route is available at the reception.[6][7][8]
The following units were stationed at Hatfield:[9]