Sandown Park Racecourse
SANDOWN PARK RACECOURSE (ONE): Temporary flying site
On the 5th and 6th of November 1909, the by then famous French pilot Louis Paulhan, arrived here to give demonstration flights. His intention being to break the official records for both distance and altitude. It is important to remember that in those days, official records had to be confirmed by the appointed authority, in the UK that being the Royal Aero Club.
It would also appear that in 1910, after flying across from BROOKLANDS, Paulhan again flew from SANDOWN PARK, and made a height record of 1,150ft. This was just before Paulhan famously won the Daily Mail London to Manchester air race in April.
A MICHAEL T HOLDER GALLERY
We have Mike Holder, a great friend of this 'Guide', to thank for providing the following items to illustrate this listing.
The Notice was published in the Farringdon Advertiser and Vale of the White Horse Gazette on the 6th November 1909, so clearly that newspaper was well up to speed in getting the latest news.
The Article was published in Flight magazine on the 13th November 1909. The Excerpt is from the Official History of Sandown Race Course by Mr Stephen Wallis. Note that he made a serious mistake by saying that Paulhan made his London to Manchester flight "A few years later", whereas it should read; "A few months later".
The photo of Paulhan with a Voisin is from the First Air Races. The local area and area views are from my Google Earth© derived database.
IS SOMETHING MISSING?
So far, (to date in 2025), we have found no evidence of any aviation activity taking place here between 1910 and after WW2 when helicopter operations were being allowed. Perhaps from as early as the 1960s?
SANDOWN PARK RACECOURSE (TWO): Helipad within racecourse
Note: These four pictures were obtained from Google Earth ©
A GRAHAM FROST GALLERY
A two day helicopter event in June 1980.
Picture One: The Aerospatialle AS350B Twin Squirrel G-BGHG
Picture Two: The Hughes 300CQ G-HUSH
Picture Three: The Enstrom F28C G-BHAX
Picture Four: The Enstrom 280C Shark G-BEYR
Picture Five: The Westland AB-47G-3B-1 Soloy Turbine G-BHKB
Picture Six: The Hughes 369D G-BHWD
Picture Seven: The Hughes UH-12E-4T Soloy Turbine G-BAIU
NOTES: Clearly this was a pretty major event which I was blissfully unaware of at the time. There are, in the background of some of these pictures, some pretty serious heavyweight military helicopters in attendance.
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