RAF Clyffe Pypard Website

Oooh…no one in particular Chris…you know me 🙂

Well done on a really informative and creative website :eagerness:

I forgot to add…are you considering raising a small memorial on the site as a mark of respect to those who lost their lives flying out of the airfield? If so, apply for planning permission ASAP, otherwise someone may consider your airfield for a ‘one size fits all’ marker stone plonked on it 😉

Now I wonder who you mean Denis? 😀

Well done on a really informative and creative website :eagerness:

I forgot to add…are you considering raising a small memorial on the site as a mark of respect to those who lost their lives flying out of the airfield? If so, apply for planning permission ASAP, otherwise someone may consider your airfield for a ‘one size fits all’ marker stone plonked on it 😉

Many thanks Nick: I hope he enjoys the site.

I will forward the link to my Dad – he had an ATC camp at CP back in the early 50s… I took him back there for the first time since that camp back in 2011.

If you think that flying into CP just the once is feasible, and you have the contacts, then please go ahead and look in to it. From my perspective, one of the members of our flying club has lots of Tiger Moth hours, and as we are local, could take a look at the surface before we commit.

Personally, I look after a Cotswold strip, and last year we had a small fly in . Of the 20 or so visitors, most had to park/taxi on mown stubble, so as long as the surface as smooth and dry it is doeable.

Would be great if we could put something together!

Geoff: it’s a great idea and one which I shall look into. I think it would take a lot of effort to get a single Tiger back to CP, given a pilot’s understandable concern over flying in/out of a field which hasn’t been used for aviation in the last 50 years or more.

But one should never say ‘never’!

Lyffe’s comment regarding Yatesbury is fairly made, but even then Yatesbury really only has a dozen or so years as a flying station (early 1917 for flying to early 1919 and 1936 to 1947), so can’t really claim much more than CP. And much as I would love to see WW1 aviation return to Yatesbury, there is a history of anti-aviation/noise/change feeling in that area which would probably be an issue. I’ve used the microlights at Yatesbury a number of times (hence the aerial photo/s on my CP site), and I know that even these unobtrusive machines have to be piloted locally with due consideration.

For me, CP presents the better option.

Has anyone spoken to the landowner? Even if it was not feasible to reopen as an airfield, how good would it be if the two surviving Tiger Moths from EFTS days were able to fly in as a one off.

Post harvest, i.e. early September a runway could be cleared with a tractor and finishing mower by skimming the stubble in a couple of hours.

I walked the site last September and there is plenty of length with flat open approaches.

True, but would the owner be prepared to lose the land; besides which would the County Council permit a change of use? Apart from WW2 the site has little history (in terms of years); Yatesbury, 5-6 miles to the south, has a far greater aviation heritage (1916- late 1950s(?)), and flying (microlight) continues. Weather-wise the site is very exposed, having a very steep slope to the immediate west and northwest, which makes it prone to low cloud and hill-fog in winds from a westerly point.

[QUOTE=Lyffe;2298896]Re #8 and “ample grass runways ….”? Although some of the buildings have survived I think you will find that the whole site has been returned to agriculture. [/url].

Most of it has, but there’s not much difference between a grass crop and one of wheat. As of yesterday it looked pretty much like grass. It wouldn’t take much to reinstate the runways, which were only ever thus.

Re #8 and “ample grass runways ….”? Although some of the buildings have survived I think you will find that the whole site has been returned to agriculture. See http://www.content-delivery.co.uk/aviation/airfields/ClyffePypard.html.

Re #6: See http://www.content-delivery.co.uk/aviation/airfields/ for a list of active and disused airfields together with associated satellite imagery.

A good read.

Would make a nice site for a historic/light aircraft airfield too: ample grass runways, historic setting and a hangar already on site as a starting point.

A nice tribute that reminded me of this thread from 2012 and the late Flt Lt John L Whiteley, DFC, AE, BA http://forum.keypublishing.com/showthread.php?114344-In-memoriam-to-Flt-Lt-John-L-Whiteley-DFC-AE-BA&highlight=Whiteley

Excellent work. I had never heard of this airfield before. Well done.

A brilliant tribute to a rather obscure airfield, which is no longer obscure owing to your efforts!

Thanks all for the positive comments: I suspect the image thing is related to locking the image/text wrapping, but thus far I can’t find a way to do it in WIX. If anyone can advise, that would be useful. I used to create websites in a text editor, and though not as attractive to look at, at least I could do stuff like that.

Nice work! The images issue looks like the image is not locking into the spot it’s supposed to be then appearing on text above a blank area. I’m guessing check for alignments, text wrapping around images and maybe if there is a function to keep image locked in place as opposed to floating, that may fix it. Also if you are using a template it may be an issue within the template itself as opposed to anything you have done.

I’ve not used WIX before for website stuff, our one I did in Weebly, but I am guessing its the same drag and drop principle.

Photos and info are great – a credit to you !

I posted your link on the ARG forum so you get some more comments.