Ever since I was a small child  I have been fascinated by aircraft. My wife would probably say that, although not a professional pilot, I am living proof of an old story. There was an RAF recruiting stand at a town fair and a child went up to it and said, "when I grow up, I want to be a pilot." The recruiting officer said, " that’s a pity, as you’ll have to choose, you can either grow up, or be a pilot!" I promise to continue resisting all attempts at being made to grow up.

So, one of the first things I did when we came to live in Chippy was search out the nearest airfield, this turned out to be Enstone, of which more later. I also discovered that Chipping Norton had actually had its own airfield for about five years during WWII and an association with flying that goes back at least as far as 1913, only ten years after the Wright Brothers started the whole thing off.

One Gustav Hamel brought his aircraft to the Brewery Field in Chipping Norton in February, 1913 where he proceeded to give a flying display. In the same year he also won the Round London Air Race which was flown over a course of 94 miles around London (the M25 didn’t exist then). Based upon pictures in the Chipping Norton museum this aircraft looks to have been a Morane-Saulnier monoplane similar to a Bleriot type XI, the aircraft that Bleriot had used to make the first Channel crossing just four years earlier. He also became Britain's first "flying postman" after carrying 100,000 letters and cards between Hendon and Windsor to mark the Coronation of King George V. Unfortunately his luck did not hold and he was killed in 1914 when trying to cross the English Channel. Aerial navigation was in its early days then and pilots were often known to lose their way. This was particularly true over water and it is thought that Hamel lost his bearings in fog, followed by either a fault in the aircraft or running out of fuel which led him to fall into the Channel and drown.

It was not until the Second World War that Chipping Norton got its own airfield in 1940. This was located between the Burford and Charlbury roads and from the air the "peritrack" which goes three quarters of the way round the edge can still be made out. In addition there are many "RAF Brick" structures and the remains of a couple of the old hangars that can be seen from these roads. On the map "D" and "E" indicate the locations of hangars.
 

However there were two main types that would have been seen the most. The first being the Harvard, an intermediate trainer that fighter pilots learned on before moving on to Spitfires, Hurricanes and the rest. Because the Harvard has a relatively small propeller but a powerful engine the propeller has to rotate very quickly in order to deliver all the available thrust. Indeed, it rotates so quickly that the tips of the propeller are moving at supersonic speed. Anyone who has ever heard a Harvard will recognise this "buzz saw" like sound. I suspect that Chipping Norton residents who were around at the time did not like this aircraft very much for this reason. Are there any readers of chippingnorton.net who remember this?

The second type was the Airspeed Oxford, a two engine trainer used for introducing would be bomber and transport pilots to the delights of multi-engined flying. This aircraft was designed as a trainer and served with the RAF from 1937 and then, with National Service units until as late as 1954. It was nicknamed the "Ox-Box" and was considered reasonably tricky to fly, so it made a good trainer for the bombers of the day. Aircraft were not as well sorted as they are today and service aircraft could have some interesting tricks up their sleeves for the unwary. Despite having two engines it would have been much quieter than the raucous Harvard.

So, Chipping Norton has quite a few links with aviation, in particular during WWII. A more intriguing speculation concerns Enstone Airfield. Local farmer Gordon Markham, supplied this picture  for use in "Oxfordshire Airfields in The Second World War". It shows a gloss black Lancaster Bomber without any identification markings – something very unusual. Although the story has never been completely authenticated, there is a consensus that these aircraft were used for training crews to deliver the British nuclear bomb. Fortunately the war in Europe came to an end before this option was considered. If not, then Enstone airfield may have had a rather higher profile in history than it does today.

Finally, if you get the time, walk down the lane from The Chequers to the Church and you will find a plaque commemorating Chipping Norton’s only (to my knowledge) air crash which happened during a night flying exercise. This occurred when a Wellington from Enstone collided with another RAF aircraft, also on a night flying exercise. In those days there was little in the way of air traffic control, and radar was largely for coastal early warning use (then in its infancy). The aircraft would usually operate without navigation lights – night flying was much more hazardous than it is today.

IWM – Imperial War Museum
Oxfordshire Airfields in the Second World War, Robin J. Brooks, ISBN 1-85306-708-3,
Countryside Books.
Action Stations, Volume 6 Cotswolds and the Central Midlands, Michael J.F. Bowyer, ISBN 1-85260-372-0, Patrick Stephens Ltd.
The Royal Air Force of World War Two In Colour, Roger A. Freeman, ISBN 1-85409-185-9, Arms and Armour Press.
Around Chipping Norton in Old Photographs, Chipping Norton Local History Society, ISBN 0-86299-457-8, Alan Sutton Publishing.
Around Chipping Norton in Old Photographs, A Second Selection, Chipping Norton Local History Society, ISBN 0-86299-657-0, Alan Sutton Publishing.
Britain’s Military Training Aircraft, Ray Sturtivant, ISBN 0-85429-579-8, Haynes

© David Nickson 2003