page_title: Hall Caine Airport
section_title: British Airways Ltd
hierarchical_section_title: Hall Caine Airport / Hall Caine Aerodrome / Operational life / 1936 / British Airways Ltd
caption_attribution_description: English: An advert describing the schedule services operated from Hall Caine Airport, Isle of Man, by British Airways Ltd. Summer 1936.
context_page_description: Hall Caine Airport, also referred to as Close Lake Airfield, was an airfield on the Isle of Man near Ramsey. It was named after the author Sir Thomas Henry Hall Caine CH, KBE by his sons Gordon Hall Caine and Derwent Hall Caine, who began the project, and was the first airport in the British Isles to be named after a person. From 1935 to 1937 it handled domestic scheduled passenger flights to English, Scottish and Irish airports. By 1937 it had fallen into disuse, primarily due to its location.
context_section_description: The beginning of 1936 saw heavy rain falling across the Isle of Man and the aerodrome was subjected to some flooding in early January which disrupted operations. The problems continued throughout the month and had become so acute that United Airways were forced to transfer their operation to Ronaldsway. The overflowing of the Sulby River inundated a large area of the surrounding countryside and was the main cause of the airport being flooded. It was not until Sunday, 2 February following tests was it decided the airport was safe for the resumption of operations.
  Infrastructure work, however, continued with the erection of a hangar on the airfield. It was constructed from steel girders and galvanized iron on a concrete base and was capable of accommodating three Spartan Cruisers.
  In the summer of 1936 Northern and Scottish, now acting for British Airways Ltd., were operating the following routes involving Hall Caine: Glasgow (twice daily by the end of September); Liverpool–Blackpool (two or three flights a day); Belfast and Carlisle (daily).
  The mail link between Hall Caine and Ronaladsway also offered limited passenger availability. The service departed Hall Caine on weekday mornings at 07:00hrs, returning from Ronaldsway at 09:20hrs, with a one-way ticket costing five shillings and a return, seven shillings and six pence.
  At this time a scheduled bus service from Douglas was introduced by the Isle of Man Road Services, allowing passengers to connect at regular intervals with services from Hall Caine. The service departed the Central Bus Station in Douglas, calling at the Sefton Hotel and the Villa Marina. The service continued on to Parliament Square, Ramsey prior to arriving at Hall Caine.
  British Airways Ltd commenced their summer schedule at the end of May, operating from Hall Caine to destinations in England, Ireland and Scotland.
  A busy day was recorded on Saturday, 18 July, when 160 passengers were landed at the airport. This included the arrival of the Western Brothers who flew in from Elmdon Airport, Birmingham, by private charter to perform at the Villa Marina.
  Heavy rain-blighted operations in late July causing the Sulby River to again break its banks flooding across large areas of Close Lake and Ballakillinghan. However, operations from the aerodrome were unaffected. This did, however, lead to the further dredging of the Lough Molla and Close Chairn watercourses in Lezayre, thus reducing the potential of future flooding.
  George Formby returned to Hall Caine at the beginning of August. He arrived from Blackpool in a privately chartered aircraft with a party of friends to undertake some sightseeing.
  In the first two weeks of August Hall Caine handled 1,200 passengers, some of whom were passengers of Railway Air Services whose Ronaldsway services were affected by fog. Again Hall Caine's weather record proved its worth at the end of August. It was again able to offer itself as a suitable weather alternate for Ronaldsway, which was again affected by coastal fog. By the end of August Hall Caine Airport had handled approximately 2,500 passengers.
  The summer of 1936 also saw a record time set for a flight between Hall Caine and Ronaldsway. A mail flight, piloted by Capt. Wilson flying a British Airways Dragon Rapide with the assistance of a substantial tailwind, is reported to have made the flight in a time of six minutes. The ground speed attained on the flight is reported to have reached 259 mph (417 km/h) in what were described as perfect conditions,
  Further records were established at the end of September for flight times to and from Hall Caine. The first was on 26 September, when Capt. Ramsay, in command of a British Airways Spartan Cruiser covered the 72 nmi (133 km; 83 mi) from Carlisle to Hall Caine in 27 minutes from take off to touchdown. This was followed by a new record between Glasgow and Hall Caine, when Capt. Hankins recorded a time of 39 minutes for the 110 nmi (200 km; 130 mi) sector.
  Scheduled services intermingled with charter operations, one such being arranged for members of Douglas Borough Counc
caption: British Airways Ltd's Hall Caine Schedule, summer 1936
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