London Elstree Aerodrome has been active for nearly a century, with many visitors to the Aldenham Country Club landing their de Havillands and Leopard Moths on Elstree’s grass strip during the 1920s. Beryl Markham, the renowned female aviator who was the first to fly solo across the Atlantic from Britain to America, refers to staying at Aldenham House in her book “West With The Night,” suggesting that she was one of many who based themselves at Elstree during private aviation’s heyday.
During WWII, the Ministry of Aircraft Production laid a concrete runway and erected a large Bellman Hangar to work on Vickers Wellington bomber planes. Aircraft parts were towed down the bypass from their Watford factory to be constructed and repaired at Elstree before taking to the skies. The Allied Expeditionary Air Forces Communication Squadron maintained a detachment of aircraft at the airfield for several months towards the end of the war, ferrying agents to and from occupied Europe.
After the war, the aerodrome grew under the management of John Houlder, becoming famous for its aerobatics displays and range of colourful residents during the sixties and seventies. The aerodrome is now the last licensed airfield in Hertfordshire and a key link in the general aviation landscape, with several fixed wing and helicopter schools and charter businesses based on site and many training, leisure and business flight movements each year. It is also very popular with visitors, who can watch aircraft in action from up close and enjoy a delicious meal cooked by Chef Sainlo’s team in The Aerodrome Café.
Each summer for the past three years, hundreds of local schoolchildren have taken part in the Soaring To Success, in partnership with The Air League, the world’s oldest aviation charity, helped by funding from The Estates’s William Gibbs Trust. The initiative culminates in flight experience days at London Elstree Aerodrome, part of a career-focused outreach programme to inspire, stimulate, and encourage young individuals in and around Hertfordshire to consider a career within aviation and aerospace. Since initial successful years, British Airways, DfT and Boeing have contributed considerable sponsorship to enable Soaring to Success’ growth.
