Departure
93%
vs 95% ▼ 2
MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
Stapleford Aerodrome (EGSG) is a private general aviation airfield near the village of Abridge in Essex, just inside the M25 close to its junction with the M11. Operated today for flying training and private aviation, it traces its history back to 1933 as Essex Aerodrome, home to Hillman's Airways and later an RAF elementary flying training school and wartime fighter satellite station.
Stapleford Aerodrome, identified by the ICAO code EGSG, is a private general aviation aerodrome in the Epping Forest district of Essex, close to the village of Abridge and roughly midway between North Weald Airfield and Romford. It holds a CAA Ordinary Licence (Number P472) permitting public transport flights and flying instruction, authorised by the licensee, Herts & Essex Aero Club Limited. For a visiting pilot it offers a compact, historic grass-and-hard-surface airfield with a rich aviation pedigree stretching back to the 1930s.
The aerodrome lies in the Epping Forest district of Essex, near the village of Abridge, about 3.4 nautical miles south of North Weald Airfield and 4.5 nautical miles north of Romford. It sits just within the M25 motorway, close to its junction with the M11, placing it in a busy corridor of London-area general aviation traffic.
Stapleford has three physical runways. 03R/21L is a hard surface, 3642 feet in the 03R direction and 2977 feet in the 21L direction, and is lit. 03L/21R is grass, 3287 feet in the 03L direction and 2981 feet in the 21R direction, and is lit. 10/28 is a shorter grass runway, 2337 feet in the 10 direction and 1661 feet in the 28 direction, and is also lit. The field has no ILS.
Radio communication is provided on 122.8 MHz under the callsign Stapleford A/G, an Air/Ground station rather than a full air traffic control service. No instrument approach aids or navaids are noted for the field.
The aerodrome can be located near the village of Abridge, just inside the M25 close to its junction with the M11, with North Weald Airfield lying a short distance to the north and Romford to the south, both useful as general orientation points for a VFR approach.
Stapleford opened in 1933 as Essex Aerodrome, serving as a base for Hillman's Airways, which flew services to Paris and other European cities using De Havilland DH.84 Dragon and DH.89 Dragon Rapide biplanes; Amy Johnson was among its pilots. After financial difficulties, Hillman was absorbed into British Airways Ltd in 1936, though operations moved to Heston Aerodrome after four months, leaving only a small number of private aircraft at Stapleford. The RAF took an interest from 1937, and in 1938 No. 21 Elementary and Reserve Flying Training School was established at the field, run by Reid and Sigrist Ltd under contract to the Air Ministry; its alumni included J.E. "Johnnie" Johnson, later the RAF's top-scoring fighter pilot. Requisitioned as RAF Stapleford Tawney shortly after the outbreak of the Second World War, the airfield became a satellite station for RAF North Weald by March 1940. No. 151 Squadron flew patrols from the base from August 1940, losing six aircraft and two pilots on 30 August, including Squadron Leader Eric King. No. 46 Squadron arrived in September after losing its Hurricanes when HMS Glorious was sunk during the Norway evacuation. The secret No. 419 Flight, the air arm of the Special Operations Executive, briefly operated Whitley and Lysander aircraft from Stapleford in September and October 1940, flying two agent-drop operations to Brest and Fontainebleau before relocating. No. 242 Squadron, No. 3 Squadron and, from 1941, the newly formed No. 277 Air Sea Rescue Squadron also used the field. From March 1943 Stapleford came under Army Co-operation Command and played a role in preparations for D-Day. The airfield suffered two V-2 rocket strikes: one on 20 November 1944 left a 60-foot crater on the airfield itself, and another on 23 January 1945 hit the camp site, killing 17 personnel and injuring 50; a memorial at the airfield commemorates those who died. Military use ended in 1945, and in 1946 the site was taken over by the Royal Engineers' 869 Mechanical Equipment Squadron before it moved to Bordon, Hampshire, in 1948. Civilian flying returned in 1953 when Roger and Buster Frogley transferred the Herts and Essex Aero Club from Broxbourne to Stapleford, renovating the hangars and flying Tiger Moths and Austers, and in 1955 the pre-war aircraft designer Edgar Percival set up a company at the airfield.
Stapleford continues as an active general aviation aerodrome under a CAA Ordinary Licence permitting public transport flights and flying instruction, with Herts & Essex Aero Club Limited as licensee and the Stapleford Flight Centre operating from the site.
