As nobody seems to have picked up on the David Purley connection that I noted I thought that ought to post the following link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Purley. This confirms that his Pitts crashed off Bognor Regis so presumably it used this field, as I understand it David Purley was the heir to the Lec business, so it would not be surprising if some the heart went out of both aviation and the entire business as a result – perhaps someone could confirm/deny?
I think it hasn’t been connected because there isn’t a connection. David Purley was connected to the business, to what extant I don’t know, but his father and the founder, Charles Purley, later knighted, was the C.E.O. until 1991 and his death in that year. The company was sold to Sime Darby in 1994 and then to Glen Dimplex in 2005. The ‘old’ factory was closed in 2003. I think therefore that the unfortunate death of David had little effect on the company and maybe changing economics affected the aviation side.
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