Woodvale 1995-97

[eye2eye5]

Does anyone have a list of PA28s based at Woodvale in the mid 90s? I flew out of there a few times on PA28 as well as on G-BEWR out of Liverpool but I can't place the registration of the Cherokee. Thanks in advance.

[vfr800]

I was a member of West Lancs Aero Club and our two Warriers were G-BNNO and G-BOTN. The two C172's were G-BHAW and G-BHMI.

[eye2eye5]

Oct 8, 2018 11:55:32 GMT 1 vfr800 said:

I was a member of West Lancs Aero Club and our two Warriers were G-BNNO and G-BOTN. The two C172's were G-BHAW and G-BHMI.

Thanks so much VFR800, it was November Oscar that I was looking for.

[vfr800]

Happy days flying out of Woodvale until the MOD condemned our hangar, the clubs closed and the aeroplanes were sold off, boohoo

[wadoki]

What year was the aero club hangar demolished?

[vfr800]

Think about 1997. Then some of the private owners built a smaller hangar and returned with their aeroplanes, huhh!

[wadoki]

So,is the smaller hangar still there,or was that demolished too?
Are there any civilians still resident?
You would think a cash-strapped military would encourage their presence as a revenue source.

[calibrator]

There are private aircraft based there. My understanding is that the owners of the aircraft also have a share in the hangar that was built to replace the one demolished. It seems to be a closed shop though. I was involved recently in trying to start a venture based there. I have to say that the "military" personnel I dealt with we're fantastic, and had a very positive view. That is until " the stakeholders " we're consulted and it all fell apart. Sad really given how the military and civilian activities combined really well in previous years.

[vfr800]

Yes Calibrator, I would certainly agree. When the West Lancs Aero Club was in existence, we had an excellent rapport with the AEF and the Squadrons. Members occasionally got rides in the Chippies and Bulldogs and if we were a bit short of instructors, they would lend us one. Great days.

[viscount]

Just been looking at the final pages of Aldon Ferguson's "R.A.F. Woodvale - the First Fifty Years" (1991), that is the A4 blue cover one, not the earlier MAS published book.

The situation with the civilian hangars has changed over time. The Southport Aero Club, when it moved in during 1959 occupied a blister hangar formerly used by No.186 Gliding School. The blister hangar and other buildings subsequently being demolished. From there they moved into a Bellman Hangar by Brewery Lane on the South Side of the airfield 1967. The Club left for Liverpool Airport 1968. The West Lancs Aero Club formed around 1969 and sometime after the departure of No.5 CAACU's Meteors late 1971 the civilian aircraft moved into the vacant hangar. The neglected Bellman Hanger on South Side being demolished December 1988. In 1991 he states that the UAS and AEF hangar on the main site had been totally reclad and refurbished, while the other hangar was occupied by West Lancs Aero Club and Woodvale Aviation.

Not sure how this information relates to the question asked (through probably relates to earlier civilian occupied hangars being demolished).


The 1991 West Lancashire Aero Club fleet is listed as: Cessna 150s G-BAXU, G-BEHW, G-BLVS, G-GFLY; Cessna 172 G-BHMI and Piper Warriors G-BNNO & G-BOTN.

While Woodvale Aviation Co comprised of: Cherokee 140s G-AVFP, G-BBRA and G-OWVA, Warrior G-OANC, Chipmunk G-BCDC (ex WD388) and Aztec 250 G-AXAX.

[calibrator]

I still remember hearing the dreadful news of Ian McConnochie's accident. I liked him, I liked his family too. If I remember correctly his wife Pauline, daughter Clare and son Damian. I'm happy to stand corrected if my memory is letting me down. It was a vibrant school. Alas times change!