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Aviation History
1954
1954 - 1951.PDF
10 FLIGHT FERRYFIELD . . . future development and ownership of Lympne. Well known to pilots in the pre-war golden age of private flying, Lympne was originally taken over by the M.C.A. (as it then was) in 1946 as a Customs aerodrome. Following the announcement that Lympne had lost £17,000 in 1948, the Ministry made an unsuccessful attempt to, sell the airport to the Corporations of Hythe and Folkestone.! Silver City's car ferry was begin ning to look encouraging by 1950, and the company made an offer for Lympne; this was turned down by the Ministry, presumably because of opposition to the deal by the other resident operator, Air Kruise. ~~By the end of 1951 Silver City had paid about £30,000 in landing fees at Lympne, and although the fee was halved by the Ministry the following year it seems unlikely that operation of this fairly primitive airport has resulted in heavy losses. During the winter of 1951 Lympne became waterlogged and for six weeks Silver City were forced to fly—most uneconomically—from West Mailing and Blackbushe. In 1953 the airport was again offered to the local corporations, who considered the idea for some months before rejecting it. After Silver City had decided to go ahead with the Ferryfield project, the M.T.C.A. announced that Lympne would be offered for sale at a public auction. At this auction, held on April 29th, bidding did not reach the reserve price (reported to be £120,000). This sum is clearly based on Lympne's value as an airport capable of earning up to £20,000 annually in landing fees. As agricultural land, its maximum value is probably £20,000. In view of Silver City's declared intention to develop Ferryfield while continuing to operate from Lympne, it might have been more logical to fix a lower reserve price at the auction. As things stand, the value of Lympne will dwindle in proportion to the rate of development at Ferryfield. The Ministerial approach towards Lympne appears to have Key features of the termi nal building are illus trated here with the aid of a model. The arrows show the direction taken by vehicles passing through the two "car- ways." On the left are the main entrance hall (A), restaurant (8) and sun terrace (C). Cus toms are centred at D, and the control tower is above the departure lounge (£). On right (at F) are company offices. been apathetic and indeterminate from the outset. We are still not quite certain why the M.T.C.A. decided to sell an airport which probably lost less money than any other. The only official explanation, given some months ago, was that Lympne was not considered part of the integral pattern of U.K. airports. Ferryfield is stated to have cost about £250,000, although future developments such as extension of runways and hangar construction will entail further outlay. The new airport is situated about a mile from Lydd, near the tip of the Dungeness peninsula, and | mile from the sea. It has flat, open approaches to the two runways. The air distance to Le Touquet is 42 miles, so the Lympne-Le Touquet and Lympne-Calais flying time of 20 minutes will also be maintained on the new route. The first step taken by the contractors was the construc tion of a l^-mile access road to enable heavy plant to be moved on to the site and, later, to connect the terminal build ing with the B.2075 road from New Romney. Visitors to Ferryfield will notice by the side of this road the new Shell- Mex and B.P. fuel storage tanks, with capacity for 30,000 gal of 100 octane aviation spirit and 5,000 gal of 73 octane for motor vehicles. Refuellers have been supplied by Derby Aviation, Ltd. On the "land'' side of the low-lying terminal building is a park for 100 cars; there is a second car park for spectators nearby, together with the site for a proposed "motel." Measur ing 300ft wide by 100ft long, the terminal building is a simple, functional structure of steel clad in white-covered concrete blocks. It is the first terminal designed to handle both vehicles and passengers simultaneously and, as shown above, is divided into three main sections by covered "carways" (in going and outgoing). On the right (as seen by the arriving passenger) is a spacious concourse building with a glazed wall looking on to a sun terrace and the loading apron beyond it. On the left of the Two stages in construction of the Ferryfield runways. Gravel was mixed with concrete and moist ened (above); the "stabilized" layer was then compacted, level led and, where necessary, covered with tarmac (left). The central section of the terminal building (right) is seen shortly before application of the white external finish.
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