Screen Archive South East is a public sector moving image archive serving the South East of England. The archive's collections of magic lantern slides, films, videos and associated materials capture the many varied aspects of life, work and creativity from the early days of screen history to the present day and serve as a rich and invaluable historical resource.
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The Kent Flying Club at Bekesbourne
Join members of the Kent Flying Club as they wheel about the skies above Bekesbourne in this aviation packed film from the 1930s
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Overview
Robert Ramsay's nostalgic film begins with an air-to-air shot of an Autogyro. Back on the ground we see members of the Kent Flying Club, and their children, walking amongst the aircraft or chatting by the hangar. After a man starts a propeller we see a comedy duo, in Victorian dress, goofing about before climbing into a Gypsy Moth biplane. At an airshow we get aerial shots of the club's hangar before seeing women members chatting and smoking.
Started in 1916 by the Royal Flying Corps, Bekesbourne Aerodrome became a civil aerodrome in 1920, when it was sometimes called Canterbury Airport.However, no commercial services were known to have operated from the airfield. In 1930 the Kent Flying Club was formed and based itself at Bekesbourne. The film gives a snapshot of the many aircraft types and aviation activities run by the club throughout the 1930s. At the outbreak of World War II the aerodrome was closed, though it was re-activated for a few months in 1940 during the Battle of France. A number of RAF Lysanders, used for armed reconnaisance flights over France, were based there until June. After they withdrew the aerodrome was permanently closed.
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