Hamble College of Air Training Circa 1973

Apologies for the quality of this video. I shot the raw footage using an old Super 8 Video camera around 1973 (no audio!) at Hamble Airfield near Southampton.
Along with a few of my school friends (all aged around 12 years old) we'd regularly go plane spotting after having written to the Air Training College and obtaining our "Visitor Passes". I only recently found this footage and, given the airfield was decommissioned and abandoned several years ago, I thought it worth sharing this video as an item of historical interest.
The airfield has a rich aviation history stretching back to 1916 and was used for manufacturing aircraft and training BOAC and BEA pilots. According to Ian Underdown who, in 2018 wrote a short history of the airfield, ("Aviation at Hamble"), damaged Spitfires would land for repair and refuel during WW2. Ian adds that an average of 15 "Fly-Ins" per week were returned to the RAF during the Battle of Britain.
Many years after my own plane-spotting day trips, I discovered that my father had had a close encounter with famous Australian aviator Bert Hinkler who flew out of Hamble Airfield during the 1930's. My dad (Ray Angell) and a friend had explored the airfield as a young boy and had noticed Hinkler's plane. Standing at the back of Bert's aircraft, (and not realising that the great man was actually sitting in the cockpit!), they moved one of the elevators or rudder, causing I imagine the pilot to notice his controls moving. Hinkler reacted by yelling at the startled boys to "P***-Off"! An infamous but amusing claim to fame!
(In an ironic addition to this encounter, my dad went on to own a painting and decorating business and, during the late 1960's, painted and wall-papered Hinkler's house in Thornhill, Southampton before it was transported brick-by-brick to Bundaberg in Queensland, Australia in 1983).

[@rdaxthedog]

Thank you that brought back memories of my time there as a BA Cadet

[@Hooligan-F8F]

Used to visit my older brother in Bursledon and always nipped across to watch the Cherokees and Barons in the circuit. SUAS had Chippies to start with then upgraded to Bulldogs. Walked across the airfield a few years ago, heartbreaking... most recently it was home to the late Ron Souch and his astonishing antique aircraft restoration business.