Shooters Hill flying sites
Note: This map only gives the location of SHOOTERS HILL within the UK. If anybody can kindly offer advice, this will be very welcome.
SHOOTERS HILL: Military Balloon Station
Military users: RFC/RAF (Royal Flying Corps / Royal Air Force)
Kite Balloon Station 3 (Balloon) Apron Sqdn
Location: Near to and probably N of (?) Roman Road which was the A2, N/NE of Eltham Park
Period of operation: 1918 to 1919
SHOOTERS HILL: Temporary aerodrome
Operated by: Sir Alan Cobham’s 1933 UK No.1 Tour
Location: About 1.5nm SE of Woolwich, possibly using the Balloon Station site listed above? Or perhaps one of the large open park areas still extent today on either side of the A207. Once the A2.
Period of operation: 16th & 17th April 1933
NOTES: Sir Alan Cobham's 1933 No.1 Tour started at CENTRAL PARK, Dagenham on the 14th April, and SHOOTERS HILL was the 2nd venue. They had spent the winter touring the Union of South Africa from the 23rd November 1932 until the 17th February 1933.
It needs to be remembered that Cobham had a small team of very capable people based at offices in the West End of London planning the No.1 and No.2 Tours for months in advance. And what an incredibly good job they did. The scale of the operation would be quite unimaginable today, and quite probably impossible to organise. The No.1 Tour visited 116 venues, and the No.2 Tour also starting on the 14th April at HOLT FARM, Southend, visited 151 venues.
And of course they had no computers, mobile phones and 'apps'. Just maps, land-line telephones and presumably a telegraph facility. And we like to think we've made progress since! I can highly recommend reading Cobham's memoirs in 'A Time To Fly'.
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