Coal Aston Airfield
| Coal Aston Airfield | |
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|---|---|
| Code | , ICAO: EGCA |
| County | Derbyshire |
| airfield | |
| Owner | Richard and Stephen Valle |
| Location | SK380787 53°18’17"N, 1°25’50"W |
| Runway(s) | 1,970 feet (grass) |
| Website | |
Coal Aston Airfield, also known as Apperknowle Airstrip, is a general aviation airfield located in the village Apperknowle, Derbyshire, six miles south-east of Sheffield.
The airfield is just south of a ridge of high ground to the north-east of Dronfield, close to the villages of Summerley, Apperknowle and Coal Aston. There has been a Coal Aston airfield since the First World War, though not here; RAF Coal Aston was on what is now the Jordanthorpe estate attached to south-east Sheffield, a mile and a half to the north-east By the late 1920s this had become a civil field which promised, until the Second World War, to become Sheffield's airport.
The airfield is operated from an on-site farmhouse and prior permission is required for landing. Its single strip grass runway is 1,970 feet long and not entirely flat, with a dip in the middle and a hump at the eastern end. The older hangar at Coal Aston is a Blister-type hangar, a type made familiar during the interwar years. It was erected by United Steel Companies Limited (later British Steel) in 1961. The runway was then at its maximum length of around 2,650 feet; it was reduced to 1,970 feet in 2015. A second hangar was erected in the 1980s next to the blister. In 1995, the airstrip achieved permanent permission for use as an airfield; it is now one of the last remaining traditional grass airfields in Derbyshire.
A public footpath follows the northern and western perimeter of the airfield. There is no public right of way across the site. Overnight parking of aircraft is possible and hangarage is available in one of the two hangars on site. A range of aircraft types may be accepted to the airfield at the owners' discretion.
On 28 May 2017, Europa G-NDOL crashed on Summerley Road, several hundred yards short of the runway in the nearby village of Summerley, while on final approach to Coal Aston Airfield. The pilot, its owner and sole occupant, was killed in the accident.[1]
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References
- ↑ 'Summerley Airfield crash: Pilot dies in small plane crash': BBC News (Derbyshire) 28 May 2017]