Vintage Postbag, June 1977

More Aeroplane Level-Crossings

Sir,

With ref. to your article in the April edition of Motor Sport which gives details of Aircraft Level-Crossings, I wonder if you are aware of the crossing at the Hawker Siddeley Aviation airfield at Bitteswell in Leicestershire, crossing the A427 and connecting the “old” and new sites of the airfield.

Whilst the crossing may no longer be in regular use it is certainly maintained in usable condition and is still signposted as an aircraft crossing to traffic on the A427.

Having served part of my apprenticeship with the Sir W. G. Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft Company at this site I remember that the Armstrong Siddeley engines test fleet, based on the “old” site and consisting, in the mid 50’s, of Gannet, Jet Provost, Hunter and Lancastrian aircraft, regularly used this crossing to obtain access to the runway on the “new” site. The Lancastrian incidentally was fitted with two jet engines, type unremembered, in place of two of its original Merlin engines.

A.W.A. used the crossing to transport, under tow, aircraft such as Sea Hawk, Hunter, Javelin and Argosy from the final assembly shop on the “old” site to the flight test shops on the “new” site.

Nuneaton, JOHN C. EVANS