Hay Mills Rotor Station
Hay Mills Rotor Station | |
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![]() The helidrome in 1951, with a Westland-Sikorsky S51 on one of the two landing pads. The River Cole is visible, top left. | |
Summary | |
Airport type | Helidrome |
Operator | British European Airways |
Serves | Birmingham |
Location | Hay Mills |
Opened | 1 June 1951 |
Closed | 15 January 1954 |
Passenger services ceased | 9 April 1952 |
Coordinates | 52°28′06″N 1°49′52″W / 52.468278°N 1.831014°WCoordinates: 52°28′06″N 1°49′52″W / 52.468278°N 1.831014°W |
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3c/BEA_Sikorsky_S-51_in_1953.jpg/220px-BEA_Sikorsky_S-51_in_1953.jpg)
Hay Mills Rotor Station (or Rotorstation) was a helidrome in the Hay Mills district of southern Birmingham, England, which was operational from 1951 to 1954.
Location[]
The choice of a suburban location away from the city centre was influenced by the fact that single-engine helicopters available at the time were not allowed to fly over built-up areas, in case of engine failure.[1][2] The site, using part of a recreation ground,[1] was bounded by Coventry Road (the A45), Heybarnes Road, Hob Moor Road and the River Cole, and lay approximately equidistant between Birmingham city centre and Birmingham Airport.
Operations[]
The helidrome had two asphalt landing pads and a wooden terminal building.[3] It hosted services operated by British European Airways (BEA), which flew to Northolt Aerodrome, London, where there were onward connections to London Heathrow.[4] At the time of opening, there were three flights a day to London, operated by Westland-Sikorsky S51 helicopters,[4] registrations G-AJHW and G-AJOV.[5] Flight time to Northolt was 70 minutes.[4]
A Bristol 171 Sycamore, G-AMWH, was used from 13 July 1953.[5]
Notable flights[]
A "proving flight", flown by Captain J.G. Thielmann and carrying the aeronautical correspondent of The Times, took place on 19 May 1951.[1] Inaugural flights took place on 1 June,[3] and (according to advance news coverage) were scheduled to carry "Lord Pakenham, Minister of Civil Aviation, Mr , the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Douglas of Kirtleside, chairman of B.E.A., Lady Douglas, Mr. Peter Masefield, Chief Executive, B.E.A., and Sir , of the Ministry of Civil Aviation", who were to be entertained to lunch by the Lord Mayor of Birmingham, .[1] The service opened to the public on 4 June.[3]
One of the service's early users was the Member of Parliament for Kidderminster, Gerald Nabarro.[3]
Closure[]
Passenger services ceased to operate on 9 April 1952,[3] with a freight-only operation continuing until 15 January 1954.[5]
References[]
- ^ a b c d Aeronautical Correspondent (21 May 1951). "Helicopter To Birmingham". The Times. No. 52006. p. 4.
- ^ Dodge, Martin; Brook, Richard (2014). "Dreams of helicopter travel in the 1950s and Liverpool's undeveloped plans for a city centre heliport". Transactions of the Historic Society of Lancashire and Cheshire. 163: 111-125.
- ^ a b c d e "B.E.A. Decade..." Flight. 3 August 1956. p. 192.
- ^ a b c "Aviation News". Flight. 8 June 1951. p. 683.
- ^ a b c Anderson, Ian (2014). "4.14.1". Heathrow: From Tents to Terminal 5. Amberley Publishing. ISBN 978-1445633893.
External links[]
- An alternative image to that shown above, with Hob Moor Road crossing the River Cole in the distance.
- Heliports in England
- 1951 establishments in England
- Transport in Birmingham, West Midlands
- 1954 disestablishments in England