Skegness flying sites
Note: This map only shows the position of Skegness town centre within the UK.
SKEGNESS see also ROYAL OAK AIRFIELD
SKEGNESS see also SEATHORNE
SKEGNESS see also THE CAMP GROUND
SKEGNESS see also WINTHORPE
SKEGNESS: Military aerodrome (Temporary)
Military user: RNAS
Location: S of the A158 at the W extremity of modern Skegness town
Period of operation: 1914 (Possibly during August only?)
SKEGNESS: Temporary aerodrome?
NOTES: Skegness was the 39th venue for the 1929 Sir Alan Cobham's Municipal Aerodrome Campaign. Starting in May and ending in October this Tour visited venues in one hundred and seven towns and cities. Mostly in England, two venues were in Wales and eight in Scotland.
The aircraft Cobham used for this 'Tour' was the DH61 'Giant Moth' G-AAEV, named 'Youth of Britain'. The schedule he set himself seems astonishing today.
It is of course very tempting to suppose this first Tour used one of the sites also listed for SKEGNESS, but experience has taught me to very wary of jumping to such conclusions. Especially because it appears this Tour occurred just before the later sites were established. If anybody can kindly offer advice, this will be very welcome and appreciated.
SKEGNESS: Civil aerodrome/airport (Probably aka WINTHORPE?)
Note: This picture from a postcard was kindly provided by Mike Charlton who has a fabulous collection. See: www.aviationpostcard.co.uk
The date is 1934 and it can be clearly seen on the engine cowling that the operator was Eastern Air Services - possibly another trading name for Eastern Air Transport? G-ABVJ was first registered on the 24th June 1932, but I have not been able to determine its history prior to 1936. I only think the picture was taken here (?), it could well have been at SEATHORNE?
If anybody can kindly offer advice this will be most welcome.
Operated by: Eastern Air Transport (Michael D L Scott & G A Pennington)
Flying Club: The Skegness and East Lincolnshire Aero Club
Location: Adjoining the North Shore Golf Club
Period of operation: 1931 to 1935 only?*
Landing area: 80 acres 1933: Max landing run 526 grass
NOTES: *Mr M D L Scott had been operating an air-taxi and pleasure flight business at Skegness since 1929. So, where was he flying from? Possibly the same site? In those two years, operating a DH.80 Puss Moth and two DH.60 Gypsy Moths. It is reported they carried 10,000 passengers between SKEGNESS and HUNSTANTON! The Gypsy Moth could carry one passenger, the Puss Moth three passengers.
In 1931 Mr Scott was offering regular services to HUNSTANTON in NORFOLK using a DH Puss Moth G-AAXl**. In 1932 he formed Eastern Air Transport with Mr G A Pennington, charging £1 as a return air fare. The DH.60 Moth G-EBQZ was registered to Mr Scott, (Skegness from 1933 to 1935). So, what was the registration of the second Moth operated?
A FORCED LANDING
In his book The Triple Alliance Neville Doyle has this story to tell: “On May 26th, (My note: 1932), Michael Scott of E.A.T. and L S Tindall, an instructor at the Skegness Club, were flying over the Wash looking out for seals, when, suddenly, G-AAXL’s engine blew up, and a forced landing had to be made on a sand bank. They waited a while for rescue, but as nobody came and the tide was rising, they took off their clothes and started to swim towards Skegness. After about an hour, Skegness was no nearer and they were being carried south by the tide so they struggled back to the sand bank, only to find that their clothes had been washed away and that the water was creeping closer to the Puss Moth!
In desperation, they decided to attract attention by setting the aircraft on fire, but they had no matches! Dipping a rag in the petrol tank and disconnecting a plug lead, they tried to light to rag by turning the propeller, which they did until the water was up to their waists and they were completely exhausted. Suddenly the rag ignited and they threw it into the petrol tank. The blaze was spotted by the trawler “Lizzie Anne” and they were picked up just in time, but G-AAXL was written off as “destroyed by fire”.
As so often happens, even today in the highly detailed accident reports compiled by the AAIB, the ‘human story’ behind the event is largely ignored, (it is not in their remit to do so of course) – but so much more interesting if it ever gets told. When reported only in the press and/or media in more recent times, the account can probably usually be dismissed as being utterly unreliable.
SERVICES TO TOLLERTON
From 1932 to 1934 Eastern Air Transport were offering regular services to Nottingham, (TOLLERTON). According to the authors of ‘TOLLERTON, an airfield for Nottingham’- “The inaugural flight of a new service between Tollerton and Skegness took place on the 18 May 1932…”, using the DH Puss Moth, G-AAXL. Another report states that Eastern Air Transport also used the DH83 Fox Moth G-ABVJ and another DH80A Puss Moth G-ABOF on the TOLLERTON service.
On the 5th June 1932 it was reported that Eastern Air Transport had made five flights to SKEGNESS, but objected to the six shillings landing fee at TOLLERTON. The TOLLERTON to SKEGNESS service was taken over by Crilly Airways, (based at LEICESTER AIRPORT – BRAUNSTON), in 1935. The authors of ‘TOLLERTON’ also say that; “In 1936 Scott disbanded his airline and closed the airfield and the associated Skegness and East Lincolnshire Aero Club.” However, it now appears the airfield may have been operated by the Skegness and East Lincolnshire Aero Club since 1933 at the least?
The Eastern Air Transport service departed from TOLLERTON at 10.00 a.m. and the return flight left SKEGNESS at 5.30 p.m. The service proved popular but it is pretty obvious those passengers would have had about only three hours in Skegness proper. Some would say that is probably as long as any sensible thinking person could endure in Skegness? I can’t possibly comment. I have visited by air to the later airfield, (INGOLDMILLS) but have never been to the town. There is a joke amongst southerners, “The first prize is a day in Skegness – Second prize is two days.”
The point of the day was of course the thrill of flying. On many occasions I have taken passengers in a light aircraft, who have never flown in one, to for example the Isle of Wight or the north coast of France, and seeing their reactions to the experience makes it all worthwhile learning to fly.
A COUPLE MORE NOTES
The registrations G-AAXI and G-AAXL were both allocatted to DH.80 Puss Moths operated by Eastern Air Transport. I later learnt (see above) that G-AAXL made a forced landing on Dog’s Head Sands in the Wash on the 26th May 1932. It was ‘XL that undertook the inaugural service from TOLLERTON (NOTTINGHAMSHIRE) on the 18th May 1932. The pilot was Mr Scott himself and he carried the Lord Mayor of Nottingham and a lady friend, Mrs Robert Hardy.
One of our more famous British pilots, Alex Henshaw, learnt to fly with the Skegness and East Lincolnshire Aero Club in 1931.
SKEGNESS: Civil aerodrome (Also known as INGOLDMELLS)
NOTE: See the INGOLDMELLS listing for the previous aerodrome which was just north of this site.
Note: This picture (2011) was obtained from Google Earth ©
Operated by: 2000: Skegness Water Leisure Park
Note: All other pictures by the author unless specified.
Location: N & E of A52, 0.5nm SW of Butlins Camp, 2.5nm N of Skegness
Period of operation: 1990 (?) to -
Note: These maps are reproduced with the kind permission of Pooleys Flight Equipment Ltd. Copyright Robert Pooley 2014.
Runways:
1990: 17/35 440x35 grass 11/29 568x45 grass
2000: 04/22 650x22 grass 12/30 720x22 grass
2001: 04/22 520x22 grass 12/30 720x22 grass
NOTES: There is however a small point I would like to make, having landed here in 2004. The airfield layout was nothing like that shown in a recently published flight guide. This showed the 12/30 runway being east of the 04/22 runway, but, when we landed it was west of it!
Grant Peerless
This comment was written on: 2020-11-02 17:42:13Hi Dick. You seem to be a little confused over the airfields at Skegness! Winthorpe was in operation from 1931 to about 1936 (possibly later) and Ingoldmells from 1948 to 1993. This was used in the early days by Billy Butlin to provide pleasure flights for his inmates at the adjacent holiday camp. The current airfield at the Water Leisure Park opened in 1992 to replace Ingoldmells and is just to the south of the earlier site on the other side of the road. The five pictures are of the Water Leisure Park but the Pooley's plate is Ingoldmells.
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