Hatfield Aerodrome
—————————— and the de Havilland Aeronautical Technical School

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The airfield at Hatfield, Hertfordshire, UK, was first used in 1930 by the de Havilland company, who built the successful "moth" range of small biplanes.  A new factory and headquarters was built at the site in 1934 and de Havilland went on through the thirties, building the Dragon, Express, Dragon Rapide and Dragonfly small airliners and other famous types such as the DH88 Comet racer.  In addition to the airframes, de Havilland also designed and built its own piston engines and propellers.  In the late 1930s, the DH95 Flamingo became their first all-metal type.

During the war they produced the fast Mosquito fighter-bomber which reverted to wooden construction and began work on gas turbines (jet engines) and Britain's second jet fighter, the Vampire.  Post war, further developments of the Vampire were made, including the Swallow and the Venom and later the Sea Vixen.  In 1949, the world's first purpose built jet airliner, the DH106 Comet first flew from Hatfield.  Powered by four engines also built by the company it was a quantum leap forward in airliner design.  Unfortunately a number were lost in the early 1950s due to a design flaw that lead to premature fatiguing of the fuselage.  This was rectified and re-designed Comets (mainly series 4) flew successfully from 1958 onwards, the last of the type being retired in commercial service by DAN Air as late as 1981 and the type continuing with the RAE until the 1990s and in a developed form as the Nimrod with the RAF today.

Across the runway from the aircraft company on the Manor road site, propellers, engines (both jet and rocket) were designed, developed and tested, along with guided missiles and even the UK's own ICBM, which although later cancelled, went on to form the basis of the European space program.

Smaller aircraft built post-war included the Dove/Devon twin piston transport, its larger sibling the four-engined Heron and the DH125 executive jet, known originally as the "Jet Dragon", but subsequently known as the HS125/BAe125/Raytheon-Hawker 125.  The Trident three engined jet airliner was the next generation following on from the Comet and featured a very high top speed and innovative technology, being the first airliner to be able to land automatically in thick fog.  Production of this aircraft continued throughout the 1960s until 1978.  In the late 1960s, Hatfield (now part of the Hawker Siddeley Group) became involved in various multi-national projects that culminated in the collaborative Airbus A300 effort.  The wings were designed and partly manufactured at Hatfield, as were the wings for the subsequent A310 aircraft.

The final Hatfield design was the HS146, a four jet-engined small airliner with exceptionally low noise and good short field characteristics.  This project was put on-hold after the oil crisis in 1973 but was revived with the merger and nationalisation of Hawker Siddeley Aviation, The British Aircraft Corporation and Scottish Aviation, which formed British Aerospace in 1978.  The aircraft first flew in 1981 and sold in greater quantities than previous British jet airliners.  A new assembly hall for the aircraft was opened at Hatfield in 1987 and a second production line set up at Woodford in 1988.  Sadly due to recession and other economic factors, a board-level decision was taken to close the Hatfield site in 1992.  All final assembly moved to Woodford and manufacturing wound down until closure in 1993.  A final fly-in was held by the DH Moth club in 1994 and the final de Havilland aircraft flew out.

The Manor Road site was first to be redeveloped, with demolition of the existing buildings commencing in 1993.  Subsequently the green-field site  just south of the former BAe dynamics company was used to film Saving Private Ryan and Band of Brothers.  Redevelopment started in earnest in the earl 21st century with the removal of the factory and ancillary buildings, the design and experimental blocks, the executive aviation buildings and the runway and taxiways.  A university campus, a housing estate and a business park have since been constructed.  The famous flight test hangar and tower survives albeit converted into a leisure complex and the Administration buildings remain in a derelict condition.  It is hoped these will be preserved and restored as a museum to the company, its history and its products.