Stanley Park Aerodrome (Blackpool) - Early History

Early History

Despite the existence of the Squires Gate site, now Blackpool Airport, which had been used intermittently for flying since October 1909, Blackpool Corporation decided in 1928 to build a new airfield close to Stanley Park. The aerodrome was located 1.7 mi (2.7 km) east south east of North Pier at an elevation of 45 ft (14 m) above sea level.

It occupied 120 acres (49 ha) of a 400 acres (160 ha) site acquired by the Corporation for aviation and sports use under the Blackpool Improvement Act 1928. The aerodrome was completed, licensed and opened for use in August 1929. After the erection in early 1931 of a hangar and a clubhouse and offices with an observation/control tower on top, the aerodrome was officially opened on 2 June 1931 by the Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald. The all-grass airfield's surface was small with the longest landing run available (NW/SE) being 2,100 ft (640 m) in length.

Read more about this topic:  Stanley Park Aerodrome (Blackpool)

Famous quotes containing the words early and/or history:

    The Americans never use the word peasant, because they have no idea of the class which that term denotes; the ignorance of more remote ages, the simplicity of rural life, and the rusticity of the villager have not been preserved among them; and they are alike unacquainted with the virtues, the vices, the coarse habits, and the simple graces of an early stage of civilization.
    Alexis de Tocqueville (1805–1859)

    The basic idea which runs right through modern history and modern liberalism is that the public has got to be marginalized. The general public are viewed as no more than ignorant and meddlesome outsiders, a bewildered herd.
    Noam Chomsky (b. 1928)