Hendon Aerodrome - London Aerodrome

London Aerodrome

Claude Grahame-White created a new company, the Grahame-White Aviation Company, taking control of more than 200 acres (0.81 km2) of Colindale and converting it into what could be recognised as a proper modern airfield. The first occupants were Horatio Barber's Aeronautical Syndicate Ltd and the Bleriot flying school. Between 9 and 16 September 1911 the first official UK airmail was flown between Hendon and Windsor as part of the celebrations of the coronation of George V'. In 1912 The first aerial derby was held at Hendon. An estimated three million people turned out all around London, forming a human ring around the race circuit to see the aviators fly round the metropolis. An estimated two million of these Londoners had never seen an aircraft in flight before. At Hendon Aerodrome, where the race started and finished, at least 45,000 people paid for admission to the enclosures. These annual events became as important as Ascot and Epsom during the London Season. By 1925, 100,000 people were coming to see the display, and it was so popular that there was talk of it having to be spread over a few days. The first fatality at Hendon, reported in The Times in May 1911, was Bernard Benson (aged 23). On May 25, 1911 He fell 100 feet (30 m) from a ASL Valkyrie.

A number of flying schools were based at Hendon, including Grahame-White's, and another established in 1914 by the American aviator George Beatty, in partnership with Handley Page Ltd. In November 1916 the War Office commandeered the flying schools, after which the aerodrome trained 490 pilots. Claude Grahame-White and other members of the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) mounted a night defence of London in 1915, constituting the very first aerial defence of London.

After World War I, the first RAF "Pageant" was held at Hendon in 1920, and it soon became a regular event, known from 1925 as the Royal Air Force Display, and in 1938 as the Empire Air Day.

The Aerodrome was briefly active during the Battle of Britain, but for most of World War II the Aerodrome was mainly used for transport activities, and flying dignitaries to and from London.

RAF Hendon had three crossed runways with magnetic headings of:

QDM 339 - 3975 x 150 feet QDM 280 - 3000 x 150 feet QDM 014 - 3060 x 150 feet

These runways were removed by 1969.