Aviation History
Eastchurch is styled the 'home of British aviation' as Eastchurch airfield saw the first controlled flight by a British pilot on British soil.
The Eastchurch airfield played a significant role in the history of British aviation from 1909 when Frank McClean acquired Stonepits Farm, on the marshes across from Leysdown, converting the land into an airfield for members of the Aero Club of Great Britain.
The Short brothers, Horace, Eustace and Oswald, built aircraft at Battersea to be tested at the site; later Moore-Brabazon, Professor Huntington, Charles S. Rolls and Cecil Grace all visited and used the flying club's services. Wilbur Wright and his brother Orville came to the Isle of Sheppey to visit the new flying grounds of the Aero Club. In 1909, Moore-Brabazon made the first live cargo flight by fixed-wing aircraft, by tying a waste-paper basket to a wing strut of his Shorts-built Wright aircraft. Then, using it as a "cargo hold", he airlifted one small pig.
The Eastchurch airfield was also the site, in July 1911, of the competition for the Gordon Bennett Trophy for powered air racing, attended by flyers from all over the world, and won that year by the American pilot C. T. Weymann. During the Battle of Britain, it was one of notable bases of the Polish Air Force.
A stained glass window in the south side of All Saints' Church, Eastchurch (built in 1432), was dedicated to Rolls and Grace, who were killed in July and December 1910 respectively. An aviation memorial is located in the centre of the village, opposite the village church.
In July 2009, Eastchurch celebrated 100 years of aviation history associated with the Island. SkySheppey brought together a number of Associations and joined with many visitors to recognise the importance of British aviation history that started at Eastchurch. Organisers, Eastchurch Parish Council, planned the event for 25 and 26 July 2009. Eastchurch is also home to many, many forms of aircraft and where they were originally developed in the early 1900s, notably Short Brothers.
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Famous quotes containing the word history:
“You that would judge me do not judge alone
This book or that, come to this hallowed place
Where my friends’ portraits hang and look thereon;
Ireland’s history in their lineaments trace;
Think where man’s glory most begins and ends
And say my glory was I had such friends.”
—William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)