by 10680 » Fri Feb 14, 2014 10:25 am
"Sundridge Aerodrome
Around 1910 an aerodrome with a three-bay timber-framed corrugated-iron clad hangar was opened north of Chevening Road, WikiMiniAtlas51°16′55″N 0°07′40″E / 51.2820°N 0.1277°E / 51.2820; 0.1277, by Polish Prince Serge de Bolotoff, a sales representative for Albatros Flugzeugwerke, Berlin, who had gained experience of aircraft design at the Voisin works, Billancourt, France and at Brooklands in Surrey. He set up a small aircraft factory at Sundridge Aerodrome shortly before World War One in the three-bay hangar. A two-seat De Bolotoff SDEB 14 biplane was built there and registered to the de Bolotoff and Company in August 1919. Around 1927 the factory building became a bus depot, but during World War II they reverted to military use by the Royal Air Force, providing storage and salvage facilities for crash-damaged aircraft. The aerodrome closed in 1945 but the hangar survives today in commercial use; it is believed to be the oldest aircraft hangar in the country and was designated as a Grade II listed building in 1988."
I'd rather be skiing