Mystery image of Dragon Rapide.

Good job in pinning down the location to St Mary’s airport, with the landmark tower in the distance. I’ve compared the photo to Google Earth, and it matches pretty well. The first image shows, from a higher altitude, the relationship between the airfield and the tower, which measures to .94 or .95 mi from the curve in the road, at a heading of about 332 degrees, looking from the road. The yellow line connects the two points, and the inset box gives measurements.

The second comes closer to matching the view in the black & white photo, with the same yellow line still showing. Yes, some of the fields have changed, but there are numerous landmarks which can be perfectly matched up, in addition to the sightline to the tower in the distance. Note, for example, the light-colored road coming in off of the right margin to T-intersect the tree-lined A3110. Look at the shapes of fields beyond the A3110 and you should be able to easily correlate the black & white photo to the Google Earth satellite shot. The yellow line isn’t perfectly straight, because it is following the lay of the land; the dips and rises are more apparent from this low oblique angle.

A third GE image is included, from directly overhead (not an oblique view), but it doesn not go all the way to the tower. The T-intersection is more easily seen here.

I can’t be certain that the grass strip upon which the Dragon Rapide landed is exactly the same as the current 18-36 grass runway. Nor do I know if the road seen in the b&w photo is the same turn-to-the-left road seen in the GE image.

NO doubt in my mind — it’s St Mary’s airport, looking in the direction of the tower. A fine job by others to point me in the right direction, and then I just used Google Earth to make it visual.

Cheers,

Matt

Nice, interesting thread, Meddle. Unfortunately the following video takes place a bit later (in the 1960s) and the aerial shots stop at the worst possible time. If they had just kept the camera rolling for the entire approach! Posting it anyway just because it is a lovely video –

Is there any aerial imagery from the 1940s kicking around for the Scilly Isles? I’m wondering if the smaller fields were combined into fewer, bigger fields to help with food production? I can see faint demarcations, or strips, within the large field in my photo but this might just tie in with the farming activities in that field.

Either way I’m glad this thread is still bubbling on and I’m grateful that people are giving this some serious thought.

I was on Scilly last week and this all looks pretty familiar. I’d say this is about here:
http://streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?x=91902&y=10653&z=115&sv=91902,10653&st=4&ar=y&mapp=map.srf&searchp=ids.srf&dn=602&ax=91902&ay=10653&lm=0

The shelter belts and fields tie in well with those currently to be found looking N. The white building is probably the farm at
http://streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?x=91822&y=11241&z=115&sv=91822,11241&st=4&ar=y&mapp=map.srf&searchp=ids.srf&dn=602&ax=91822&ay=11241&lm=0

As someone said the fields have all been subdivided since. Scilly was pretty windy last week and bulbs and other market garden crops grow much better in smaller fields with more shelter when there’s Atlantic gales to contend with!

Not Bodmin. We have had Rapides in before. Biggest types have included a Devon and a Twin Otter. Having flown into the Scilly Isles on a number of occasions will go for that.

Martin

I think the topography and fields do fit very well. The Telegraph Tower is about a mile from the where the photo was taken – with the naked eye it would look closer, but through a standard camera lens it will appear further away.

I also can’t see why a local photographer would sell pics of an airfield elsewhere. It certainly isn’t Lands End, nor does it fit Bodmin.

Historic map here was surveyed in 1958 and does show the fields sub-divided, but Meddle’s photo could have been taken a decade or more earlier earlier.

Yes I also think it is taken from High Cross Lane,the RWY would not have been built yet and the a/c is approaching from the T junction on the A3110 and would be landing on the grass uphill towards the modern terminal building,the a/c is set up for an uphill landing -the grass strip was very short in those days.
The field that the a/c has approached over has obviously been split up/sectioned in the ensuing 60 + or so years.

Had a look on Google Earth and I think that the photo was possibly taken on St. Mary’s at High Cross Lane just north of the modern day runway.
Ian

No, definitely Rapide. It has flaps which the Dragon does not. The wings appear elliptical rather than square tipped and it has a single outboard inter-plane strut rather than the Dragons 2.

I think the ‘different’ wheel spats is a trick of the light/shadow.

I would also venture to argue that the Aeroplane is a DH84 Dragon and not a Rapide.
Different nose and wheel spats / pants / trousers.

Andy

I am afraid that I can’t match the photo to the ground as I know it even decades later. You may wish to match such items to the image, but the real problem is the distances involved. How far would you say the horizon with the ‘tower’ on it is in the photograph? You are aware of just how small St Mary’s is?

The suggestion of contacting Gibsons would be a good idea

In addition, it is not just the field size that is a problem, the margins are wrong, the dry stone walling too low and the wrong types of hedegerow plants for Scilly.

We can narrow it down to somewhere between 194X and 1964. It is possible that when these family photographs are sorted they will be pinned down more accurately, as hopefully other photos of the holiday will come out the woodwork.

The Telegraph Tower sounds like a good match. It is in that area of the Island, and originally had a building next to it that has since been demolished. The additional lookout on the top of the tower, mounted off-center, matches the shape on the horizon of the photo.

I think the larger field and road patterns fit quite well; as Meddle says, perhaps the fields were sub-divided later on? The land does indeed slope away quite steeply under the Rapide. The structure on the horizon just off the Rapide’s starboard wing tips could be the Telegraph Tower and associated buildings; position is about right. Shame we don’t know the date.

Pretty sure it’s not Land’s End… Don’t know Bodmin.

I would be surprised if a Dragon Rapide had visited Bodmin, at least in black and white days 🙂

I have been to St.Marys airport many times. The land to the north drops off quite sharply from the runway which has a very distintive crown to it, which doesn’t seem to be on the photograph

I quite like Hooligan’s hypothesis, as there is a similar curve in High Cross Lane to the North of St Mary’s airfield. Looking at Google Earth imagery, the fields look a lot smaller and more numerous on St Mary’s. However a similar track runs parallel to the modern fields to that shown on the right hand side of my image.

I’m wondering if, counter to pretty much everywhere in the UK, the fields have been made smaller on St Mary’s since 1964 or before (when the Dragon Rapide service was replaced).

The are no fields of that size anywhere on St.Marys. My guess would be Lands End aerodrome

I might be way off but it is reminiscent of Bodmin…

regards,
jack…

Might be landing on 18 across High Cross Lane at the northern end of St Mary’s Airport. The road visible in the distance on the left seems to match the A3110.