AeroModeller – June 2018

27

their little airport by the Summer of 1987,

a high security fi eld, with armed guards.

Remember they had some fragile kit to

protect, as well as presumably a very large

and valuable Helium dump. Was I thrown

off? Not a bit of it! It got easier. Now I

was allowed to drive on. I was given the

code to the gate and always greeted with

a wave when I turned up - usually in the

evening when their activities had stopped.

Sometimes I would have one of their guards

as company always intrigued by what I

was doing - and never a moment’s confl ict.

They were particularly interested when I

came with Sue, especially in the Summer!

They even kept me advised of timetables,

prices and seasonal activities. Had they

lasted longer and come back in 1988, then

I reckon I was on for a complimentary fl ight,

but sadly they never got a big enough

sponsor to continue. They were great guys.

The End...

I got a letter from the Met. Police very

early in ’87, letting me know that they were

having their National Police Dog Trials in

London and they hoped to use the runways

for hard surface tracking exercises. A

couple of dates in April that they hoped

‘would not inconvenience me’. They

didn’t. After that we went through some

periods of a farmer grazing his sheep on

the fi eld, which kept the grass nice and

short and circumvented his mowing it, or

getting cross with me when I walked in it

when it was long and ready to cut. Some

gypsies got on for a few months but were

eventually removed, and Redlands sunk the

occasional test borehole from time to time

but didn’t actually start digging ‘till around

1991, by which time I had been using it on

a regular basis for 11 years!

Eventually Redlands dug some mighty

gravel pits with steep sides and were

encroaching across the fi eld. Then they tore

up the grass and runways to make huge

mounds to defl ect their noise away from

local residences to the west. It was getting

very untidy. By 1993 I reckoned it was too

dangerous, both for me and my models.

I was never asked to leave. I stopped of

my own accord before I had an accident

and drowned in one of their water-fi lled

gravel pit death traps, trying to retrieve a

model! I had had uninterrupted access for

twelve years. From then on it was back to

driving the 30 plus miles to the much more

hostile Chobham Common, but that would

eventually allow me to fl y power again

which would have been impossible (or

certainly rude) on Radlett. Furthermore, it

meant that I would have the company again

of such fellows as Spencer Willis.

Never go back...

I made the mistake of popping back to

look at the place after Redlands had

vacated a few years ago. It was such a

terrible mess it broke my heart. I wish I

hadn’t seen it. I try to remember it as a

beautiful fl at grass and tarmac paradise,

which enabled me to trim and practice

fl ying in complete peace for hours. During

this period you can imagine the models I

trimmed. The massive rubber SST1 was

one of the fi rst, and all the Lanzos, all the

Coupes, all the Wakefi elds and the Mini

Vintage – particularly the Senators. Only

two of you knew about it, and only one of

you was ever invited to fl y there. I am sorry

I was unable to open it up for everyone.

I had tried. From what I gather now, the

chances are it will be either a massive

housing estate, or a rail freight terminal.

I bet those that complained about the

Airships spying on them would rather have

Airship Industries as their neighbour, than

who they are about to get!

And So...

I still may be the only person in this land

to have got an Aerodrome changed in

its use to a site for the ‘Flying of Silent

Free Flight Model Aeroplanes.’ If I can do

this, then so can you. Don’t be beaten

down into believing what you are doing is

illegal or dangerous. Cricket on the village

green might be dangerous, but Free Flight

Contest Duration – never! ■

Several rallies were held in the 1950’s at Radlett with Handley Page’s permission. The fi rst

AeroModeller sponsored international RC event was there on 13-14 May 1951.

Airship Industries fl ew from Radlett in 1986-87. My wife Sue seemed to be more of an attraction

than my Cd’H model for the Radlett security

Guards!

The large SST1 rubber duration model was

trimmed at Radlett.

RADLETT.indd 27 26/04/2018 16:20