missioners had begun to reclaim land at Sydenham for an aerodrome but a

A History of lot of time was required for the land to settle and achieve stability.
Newtownards Airport The North of Ireland Flying Club had been formed in September 1928 and
was anxious to find a permanent home for its members. A solution was of-
The first flight in a powered heavier than air machine or aeroplane, took
fered in December 1933 when the 7th Marquis of Londonderry, himself an en-
place at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, USA on the 17th December 1903 and in
thusiastic aviator and Secretary of
1909 Louis Bleriot was the first to cross the English channel .
State for Air from 1931 to 1932, an-
In Ireland , the pioneer of aviation was a young Belfast engineer, Harry Fer- nounced that an aerodrome would be
st constructed on a fifty acre portion of
guson. He built his own aircraft and made his first flight in this country on 31
December 1909 when he flew his aircraft at Hillsborough Park in Co Down. his estate (formerly a racecourse) ad-
joining the Comber Road in New-
Ferguson’s exploits caught the public imagination and he was soon in demand townards.
to display his flying skills at fairs throughout Ulster. One such show was the
annual show of the North Down Agricultural Society held at Newtownards on The Airfield circa 1930 Lord Londonderry wanted his airfield
15th June 1911. to be the civil airport for Belfast and
to be the main centre for private flying in Northern Ireland. With this in mind
The need for an airport he set up a flying school and appointed Flight Lieutenant RWE Bryant as Chief
instructor and manager of the new facility. The North of Ireland Flying Club
The outbreak of the First World War in 1914, and the years of political up- was also offered a home at the new aerodrome.
heaval which led to partition placed severe restrictions on flying, but by 1922
By Summer 1934, Messrs Airwork Ltd. the new
peace had broken out and a number of airline companies were establishing a
airfield was ready for use and the first recorded
pattern of regular air services between Northern Ireland and the rest of the
landing took place on the last Sunday in June.
UK.
The aircraft was a de Havilland Gipsy Moth and
There was, however, a need for a proper airport to serve the Province. At- the pilot was a Scotsman, Fred McNeill. On 31
tempts to develop an airfield at Malone were unsuccessful and the RAF sta- July a Hillman airliner landed at the airfield on
tion at Aldergrove was serviceable but unsuitable for civilian traffic. In any board were Ladies Margaret, Helen and Mairi
event it was earmarked for 502(Ulster) Auxiliary Reserve Squadron which was Stewart who had flown from London to stay in
established in May 1925. The development of private flying was hindered by their home at Mountstewart. Also on board were
the absence of a suitable airfield. About this time the Belfast Harbour Com- monkeys which Lady Mairi had brought for here- Lady Mairi preparing
for a flight
Mountstewart Zoo.
1 © Ron Armstrong 2010
Official Opening of the airport The Royal Air Force also gave a demonstra-
The new Ards Airport was officially opened on 31 August 1934 by the Duke of tion of its flying training exercise using four
Abercorn, the Governor of Northern Ireland. It had been constructed by Avro/Cadet tutor aircraft including some be-
Messrs AIRWORK LTD longing to the flying club. Lord Londonderry
employing local labour departed the field in the autogyro after the
and Lord Londonderry display. That evening, Mountstewart gar-
met the cost. Avro Tutor dens were opened to the public and were il-
luminated by arc lamps.
In his speech, his lord-
ship said that the occa-
sion marked an Development and Expansion
important development
The official opening party with in air communications
Lord Londonderry centre Facilities at Ards Airport consisted of three grass landing strips. One ran NW/
between Britain and
SE and was 2100 feet in length whilst the N/S was 1880 feet in length. The
Northern Ireland and he believed that as air travel developed, Newtownards
shortest runway W/E was 1800 feet in length. There was also a 90 ft x70 ft
would be a base for flights to Britain, Europe and elsewhere in the world.
hangar, a club house including a
Newtownards Silver Band played the “Londonderry Air” and the opening dis-
ground radio station and catering
play, before a crowd of ten to fifteen thousand, included flights by an Avro
facilities. Within a short time all
Commodore, a Hawker Fury of
the airlines serving Northern Ire-
502 Squadron and an Autogyro.
land were based at Ards.
Ards can therefore validly claim
Amongst the services were flights
to be the Province’s first civil air-
to Glasgow, Blackpool, Liverpool
port. It was preferred by airline
and Croydon. Aircraft used for
operators of the 30’s and indeed
these services were De Havilland
from 1934-1938 served as the De Havilland Rapide
Dragons and Fox Moths. There
civil airport for Belfast under the
were also large four engined DH
management of Airwork Limited
86 called Neptune, Mercury and Venus. These aircraft had a crew and carried
of Heston, with Flt/Lt RW Bryant
12-14 passengers and their luggage. Departures to Croydon were at 0900
as Chief pilot and Manager.
Hawker Fury and after a short refueling stop at Liverpool one arrived in London at

2 © Ron Armstrong 2010

1015(much the same journey time as services today). Ards flourished. The Elsewhere a flying boat landed on the lough and moored opposite Mount-
Royal Mail was brought in through the airport and new services were opened stewart for the weekend. It brought the Chief of the Air staff Air Chief Mar-
to the north of England including Hull. By 1938 the volume of traffic was such shall Sir Edward Ellington who had been invited to a house party. That week
that it was placed seventh in the list of Airports for the British Isles handling end Ards saw the arrival of 603(City of Edinburgh) and 607(City of Edinburgh)
2075 airliners and 3269 passenger arrivals and 2889 departing. The airport Auxiliary Air Force squadrons flying Hawker Harts who gave a thrilling dis-
handled 21 tons of mail and it was second only to Croydon in terms of other play of formation flying and aerobatics. The pilots dined at Mountstewart be-
freight services. fore returning to their home stations.

German visitors Private Flying

Probably the largest aircraft to Interest in flying was growing apace. The
visit the airport was a German North of Ireland Flying Club expanded and
three engined black and silver had a thriving membership. The Marquis
Lufthansa Junkers JU52 was an enthusiastic member and kept two
(named the Wilhelm aircraft at Newtownards an Avro Cadet and
Siegert)which landed on the a Monospar.. This latter aircraft was exclu-
field on the 26th May 1936. sively for business trips to Britain and was
Avro Cadet
usually flown by his personal pilot Mr JC
Von Ribbentrop’s aircraft at Ards It conveyed the German Am- Neilan.
bassador to Britain, Joachim
Von Ribbentrop who together with Frau Ribbentrop was the guest of the Lon- At this time there were a number of privately owned aircraft mainly of the
donderrys at Mountstewart. Moth variety. Notable among the visitors to the field was Sir Richard Cob-
Lady Londonderry and mem- ham who brought his flying circus over for the Silver Jubilee celebrations of
bers of the family met the King George v. In September 1935 the airfield was one of the checkpoints for
ambassador on arrival. The competitors in the Kings Cup Air Race before flying on to Scotland. One of
Junkers remained at the Air- these competitors had to ditch in the sea off Donaghadee after an engine
port until the following Tues- failure but was rescued by the local fishermen. The event returned to the
day when Ribbentrop field the following year and encouraged by its success the first Air Rally was
returned to London. organised for September that year. The event attracted fourteen entrants
one of whom, an aviator from Scotland, lost his way and popped into Ardg-
Hawker Hart lass for directions to Newtownards. The rally proved to be a great success
3 © Ron Armstrong 2010
with competitors completing a across the Comber Road in the area of what is now West Winds housing es-
number of tasks ,including time tate. Construction work was carried out by the Royal Engineers and was
trials, cross country flying and largely completed by 1940. The first resident
navigational exercises. One RAF unit was 231 squadron operating Lysander
year on in June 1936 a “Flying aircraft largely engaged on Army Co-Operation
for All” event was organised by duties which consisted of patrols over Army
the club and the citizens of the convoys, and general support for tactical exer-
town were treated to aerobatic cises. During the night of 14/15 April 1941 the
displays, flights by gliders and Luftwaffe made another social visit to Belfast/ Lysander
autogyros. Ards only this time they bombed the centre of
The Airfield circa 1940 the Belfast City/shipbuilding areas and for good measure dropping land mines
March 1938 saw the completion
on the airfield killing thirteen young soldiers who were too young for active
of the aerodrome at Sydenham
service overseas but given responsibility for defending the airfield. As the war
and it opened for airline operations on 16th March resulting in the transfer of progressed, the role of the airfield changed and it came under the control of
airline operations to it because of its proximity to Belfast. The Club nonethe- No 82 Group, Fighter Command, which had been formed as an umbrella or-
less decided to remain at Newtownards where it continued to prosper. This in ganisation for all RAF fighter units in Northern Ireland. It became a centre for
part was due to the support made available under the UK Civil Guard Scheme drogue towing units to facilitate air gunnery practice and by the middle of
under which volunteers were trained as reserve pilots as the clouds of war 1942 it had 22 aircraft and just over 600 personnel.
were now clearly visible on the horizon.
On the 25th December an American B17 en route from Newfoundland to
Outbreak of War Nutts Corner made an emergency landing on the field but 50 minutes later
departed the crew having got their bear-
With the outbreak of WW2 private flying came to a temporary halt as the air- ings for their original destination. Other
field was requisitioned as a suitable base for training and Army Co-Operation unintended visitors were a Handley Page
flying. Development plans were drawn up by the Air Ministry and the site in- Halifax returning from a raid on France in
creased to 234 acres but in view of its intended role, only limited construction February 1944 and another B17 which
of hard runways and hard buildings was undertaken. Most of the new airfield Handley Page landed on 7th February 1945.
buildings were grouped around the original ones and were supplemented by Halifax
tented accommodation. Four new hangars were erected at different points By the beginning of 1944 the demands of
around the perimeter, two of which stood at the current entrance to the UFC. the war changed and the airfield became a relief landing ground for
Other buildings including living quarters and a sick bay were constructed 24EFTS(Empire Flying Training School) operating at Sydenham. A new squad-

4 © Ron Armstrong 2010

ron was formed, No290 whose role was to provide all anti-aircraft training tion to a close in De-
and practise flying for the whole of NI. This posting was short lived as the cember 1947.
airfield’s grass surfaces were so badly deteriorated by the intensity of use
For a short time there
that the squadron were posted to Long Kesh and Ards put into care and main-
was little flying and the
tenance. Apart from the establishment of No 203 Elementary Gliding School
runways were used as a
in early 1945, aircraft made little use of the field until its reversion to the Lon-
race track for cars and
donderry Estate shortly after the end of WW2.
Silver City Airways Freighter motorcycles but in 1951
Shorts took over the
Post War Period field and sponsored the Flying Club which resumed flying operations in 1953.
Lord Londonderry was unhappy The Gliding school also recommenced operations on the field. Civil airline op-
about the condition of the airfield erations returned to Ards on 7th April 1955 with the new Silver City Airways
when it was returned to him and lost operating a passenger and car ferry to and from Scotland. The service was
little time in repairing it and return- operated by Bristol Freighter aircraft. These aircraft had a payload of three
ing it to civilian flying. In January cars and 15 passengers. Four flights daily operated between Ards and Castle
1947, he set up Londonderry Air Kennedy outside Stranraer. Flight time was 17 minutes and fares ranged from
Charters (later renamed Ulster Avia- £37 to £17.50 for a single journey
tion limited) using six aircraft to op- and passengers £2.50. The Com-
erate flights to Britain. It operated pany continued to operate until
flights from Newtownards for only a 1958 when car ferries were from
Miles Messenger
short time before moving operations then on to take the major portion
to the Isle of Man. of cross channel traffic.

In 1946, the Miles Aircraft company moved Shorts were finding it increasingly
its aircraft building operations from Banbridge expensive to run the airport and
to Newtownards . It took over the factory be- the precarious financial situation
was only saved by McCandless The Airfield circa 1970
side the airfield at Comber Road and began
building Messenger aircraft. The airport was Aviation who set up engineering
used to test new aeroplanes before being works in the hangars. They also ran the Flying Club and employed Shorts per-
flown to company headquarters in England. sonnel to maintain the aircraft.
Bristol Air Freighter
Post war austerity brought aircraft produc-

5 © Ron Armstrong 2010

 The engineering business closed but
the future of flying was then secured
The Present Day
when the Ulster Flying club was The Ulster Flying club has continued to de-
formed in 1961 and ever since then velop as a major centre for private flying
it has had responsibility for the air- and to that end existing runways were re-
field. Like its predecessor the club surfaced and the grass strip tarmaced in
was anxious to promote aviation in 1998. Following the destruction of the
Shorts Skyvan Northern Ireland and in the late clubhouse by fire in 2004, a new clubhouse
1960’s the club organised the first Ulster Air Show. Since then and apart from was completed and opened by HRH the
training thousands of students to fly there have been several such Air Shows, Duke of York in 2005. New rather than
attracting large numbers of spectators to the field. Visitors have the opportu- The airfield today
leased
nity to see many of the latest aircraft in service with the RAF as well as many aircraft have been purchased and the num-
Warbirds which were in service during WW2. On the private flying front the ber of hours flown and aircraft movements
UFC took part in and sponsored many Air Rallies attracting fliers from many on the field continues to climb at a steady
parts of Europe. One of these attracted over 80 visiting aircraft. There have rate. Since that time there have been sev-
been many changes to infrastructure eral group flyouts to Scotland and further
and aircraft over the years since the UFC afield and two Air Displays. With the de-
assumed responsibility for the airfield velopment of aviation many new types of
notable among which was the opening aircraft, microlights , gliders and helicop- Cessna 172
of a new clubhouse in 1975 by the late ters can be seen on the field
and legendary Group Captain Sir Douglas
Bader CBE.,DSO.,DFC. ”The legless won- The spirit of adventure which has so long
der” who commanded 242”Canadian” been a feature of the Ulster character is
squadron during the Battle of Britain alive and well and it is no exaggeration to
and was the subject of the film “Reach New UFC Clubhouse opening say that the airfield remains the centre of
for the Sky”. Thence followed a period 1975 Vans RV-7 aviation in Northern Ireland. 2004 saw its
of expansion in the numbers of people learning to fly. However disaster 70th anniversary of continued use as an
struck in 1981 when the tide bank was breached and severe salt water corro- airfield and in 2011 we will be celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the Ulster
sion was caused to premises and aircraft. Per Ardua ad Astra the club pressed Flying Club.
forward with replacement aircraft and equipment and the level of interest in
aviation increased. Ron Armstrong.
6 © Ron Armstrong 2010