Borstal
BORSTAL. Short Bros factory and flying boat launching site
NOTES: This site was only discovered in 2017. I had found no mention of it before.
The evidence came from looking up the Short Mayo composite, which flew in 1938 comprising the Short S.21 Maia (G-ADHK), based on the 'C-Class' Empire flying boat with the Short S.20 Mercury (G-ADHJ) being mounted on top. The idea being to transport the smaller aircraft part of the way, then release it to complete the journey. Imperial Airways were very keen on supporting this concept to enable long distance mail carrying flights.
It appears that the project was very successful - but WW2 got in the way.
It appears, according to a Wikipedia entry, that the first successful airborne seperation took place on the 6th February 1938 flying from BORSTAL near ROCHESTER.
In fact, looking into it, the 'BORSTAL' site is the main flying boat factory/assembly for Short Brothers on the River Medway - just N of the M2 bridge. Which I have listed under ROCHESTER. But, I think I will keep this aspect listed as it might help others looking into the aviation history of this region.
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