Askernish
ASKERNISH: Occasional Landing Ground later regional airport (Aka AISGERNIS?)
Airline users: Pre 1940: Midland & Scottish Air Ferries, Northern & Scottish Airways
Location: If my guess is correct the ASKERNISH 'airport' location is now known as AISGERNIS in Gaelic? The 'airport' was on the west coast of South Uist near this existing village/town but on the golf course, this being about 6nm N of the SW tip of South Uist. For blithering Sassenachs such as myself, this location is roughly 125nm WSW of Inverness, and 130nm NW of Glasgow.
Period of operation: 1930s only (Probably 1936 up till WW2?)
NOTES: In December 1935 Northern & Scottish Airways inaugurated a twice-weekly service to this 'airport' from RENFREW.
It appears the first recorded flight landing in a field near Askernish was piloted by Captain Ed Stewart of Midland and Scottish Air Ferries from RENFREW on the 1st June 1933 undertaking the third air ambulance flight in Scotland. It seems the second air ambulance flight to ASKERNISH took place on the 13th September 1933. This time Captain Jimmy Orrell was flying the DH84 Dragon G-ACCZ. We do not not know for certain, but the golf course seems most likely?
I can highly recommend reading Air Ambulance by Iain Hutchinson.
MORE INFORMATION AND MAPS FROM MICHEAL T HOLDER
We have Mike Holder, a great friend of this 'Guide', to thank for providing the following illustrations.
Seems to me that very little has changed here over the last hundred years.
The article was published in the Aberdeen Press and Journal on the 20th January 1936. The picture is of the Spartan Cruiser Mk.2, G-ACSM. Only around a dozen MK.2s were made.
But, they were soon highly regarded. Some went to operators in Iraq, Egypt, India, and indeed to Czechoslovakia where the Bata shoe company used one for extensive overseas sales tours. We do not know the exact history of G-ACSM. It was registered 13.06.34 to British Airways based at HESTON, (no relation to British Airways today), and based at EASTLEIGH (Southampton). It was then acquired by Northern & Scottish Airways based at RENFREW, and without much if any doubt (?) was being operated by them when this photo was taken. On the basis that it's arrival here after it was operated by Scottish Airways from 17.06.38 until 02.04.40, assuming they still operated this route (?), would hardly have attracted any attention. When WW2 "kicked-off" it was impressed as X9433 on the 2nd April 1940, and its fate with the RAF is not known?
The area and greater area views are from my Google Earth © derived database.
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