Renfrew Airport was demolished in 1978, but had lain derelict since 1966. I used to play inside and around it many times, and It was a fascinating place to roam about in.
This was our playground growing up in Renfrew. Strangely it features in my dreams quite often. We were all very sad to see it go. Especially the giant sky arch which was meant to stay as it was a historic piece of reinforced concrete consruction, but Tescos destroyed it anyway to make room for their breezeblock monstrosity.
Fascinating video!. So many people drive up and down the M8 nowadays, who are absolutely oblivious to what was there before the motorway!. I believe the modern airport only operated from 1954 to 1966, when it was decommissioned!. Not very long really. But, it had long been used as an RAF station before that!.
A bit of time travel must have been involved in the making of this film. It is dated 4 May 2014, but the photograph that appears at 4:05 could not have been taken until December 2014. It is from an exhibition in Orkney that ran from December 2014 until end of January 2015.
@2:20 Date: Saturday 28 September 1957 Type: Silhouette image of generic HERN model; specific model in this crash may look slightly different de Havilland DH-114 Heron 1B Operator: British European Airways - BEA Registration: G-AOFY C/n / msn: 14099 First flight: 1956 Crew: Fatalities: 3 / Occupants: 3 Passengers: Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 0 Total: Fatalities: 3 / Occupants: 3 Airplane damage: Damaged beyond repair Location: Islay-Glenegedale Airport (ILY) ( United Kingdom) Phase: Landing (LDG) Nature: Ambulance Departure airport: Glasgow International Airport (GLA/EGPF), United Kingdom Destination airport: Islay-Glenegedale Airport (ILY/EGPI), United Kingdom Narrative: An air ambulance aircraft was ordered to fly to Port Ellen to pick up a patient in urgent need of attention. DH-114 Heron G-AOFY carried out a VDF let-down at night in low cloud and poor visibility conditions. While turning to finals the left wing struck the ground causing the aircraft to crash. PROBABLE CAUSE: "The pilot did not appreciate that the aircraft had rapidly lost height whilst he was making a visual half circuit to land. This could not have been due to the absence of sufficient visual reference in the prevailing conditions of darkness, very low cloud and drizzle. The urgent nature of the flight is considered to have influenced the pilot's decision to land."
The first time I flew it i was from Renfrew to Sumburgh. The plane was a Junkers 52 triplane Cerman war spoills I think the year would have been 1949 (ish)
I remember seeing a picture of a German military bi plane refuelling here ( if Renfrew and Abbotsinch airport were the same ) and it was dated late 1930`s , now that i think about it , it was probably on an air recon mission and took the pictures that lead to Clydebank being heavily bombed , i think it was posted on the original Paisley Legends facebook page which was closed down due to arguments , too much hassle for admin , ive been searching for the picture for a few days but no luck yet
Renfrew and Abbotsinch were not the same. Abbotsinch is the current Glasgow Airport. The old Renfrew Airport is where the Renfrew Tesco is situated. I know the photo you are referring to, It shows a Messerchmitt Bf108 being refuelled at Renfrew shortly before the outbreak of WW2. I doubt that a Bf 108 wou;ld have been used as a photo-recon aircraft.
@Al Mcewen I'm from Renfrew and lived at 109 Cockles Loan for 13 years. 98 Paisley Road before that, 5 York Way before that, and it all started at 40 Lang Avenue in 1966...😁
