92 THE AVIATION HISTORIAN Issue No 22
Ultra Light Aircraft Association (ULAA) held
its annual rally at Skegness, Flight noting that
“arrivals included Gp Capt E.L. Mole in the little
Tipsy Belfair, which was later judged to be the
best-looking aircraft in the rally, and Mr Peter
Masefield, president of the Association, who
came in his Gemini”. It was also reported that
the Braunschweig Zaunkoenig and Slingsby
Motor Tutor flew on the Sunday and that there
was a spot-landing competition and a parachute
display by the Apex Parachute Group.
The airfield and its relationship with Butlin’s
underwent a change in 1949, the ULAA event
being described in reports and announcements
as “in association with Butlin’s”, clarifying that
the latter was not the host, but merely a local
provider of accommodation and general services
for the event. Indeed, on September 9, 1949,
the Friday before the ULAA rally weekend,
Skegness Airport Ltd was formally founded
by a partnership comprising one of Bond Air
Services’ directors, Capt Christopher Treen, and
future airline visionary Freddie Laker.
The new company would be fully responsible
for the operation of the airport, and regular
charter flights were flown from Skegness by
Bond Air Services aircraft thereafter. In charge
as Airport Manager was former Fleet Air Arm
Supermarine Seafire pilot Peter Bushby. It
appears that Butlin also decided to slim down
his fleet of aircraft in 1949, the two Rapides
going to Laker’s Aviation Traders Ltd in August
that year, although Butlin retained the Consul
until the summer of 1950.
Operations continued at Ingoldmells under the
new regime into 1950, with one unscheduled
Saturday afternoon group visit leading to the
rather lurid Skegness Standard headline “Invasion
at Skegness Airport”. On May 21 that year, a
group of foreign light aircraft was forced to land
at the apparently usually sleepy seaside strip
owing to bad weather, as the Standard reported:
“Normal life at Skegness Airport came to an
abrupt halt on Saturday afternoon, when a group
of seven ’planes touched down for refuelling.
The ’planes — five Dutch two-seater Piper Cubs,
one Danish four-seater K.Z.3 and one French
Piper Super Cruiser — were taking part in the
Yorkshire Aero Club’s International Rally, and
were on their way to Sherburn. They passed
customs at Lympne [in Kent] and, owing to bad
weather, landed at Cambridge, where an Auster
was chartered to lead the way. On reaching the
Louth [in Lincolnshire] area, the leader, owing
to further bad weather, decided to turn back to
Skegness to refuel. All resumed their journey
within an hour.”
After the excitement of the “invasion” had
died down, the locals and campers had another
three months to wait for the next major event at
the airport, which was advertised from mid-
August in the local press. No longer branded
with Butlin’s name or logos, advertisements in
the Skegness Standard exhorted visitors not to
miss “The Grand Air Display” on August 20,
which was to include “aerobatics, crazy flying,
formation flying, flour-bag bombing, public
competitions, parachute descents and ALL THE
FUN OF THE AIR!”.
Thanks to threats of a seasonal bout of
atrocious weather, however, the weekend of
August 20 came and went without a grand air
display, and the same local newspaper carried
ads the following week, in which Skegness
Airport Ltd gave thanks “to all those who
attended our impromptu air display last Sunday,
when all major events were postponed due to
adverse weather forecasts which did not comeABOVE Bond Air Services’ D.H.86B G-ADVJ sits on the Ingoldmells grass in company with Rapide G-ALBC,
owned by construction company McAlpine. Both of Bond’s D.H.86Bs went to Bahrein after leaving the company in
1951; sadly, G-ADUH was destroyed in a ground collision in 1952 and G-ADVJ was derelict by the end of that year.