Tribute in the Sky
Tribute in the Sky
Thu 7th Jul 2011
In 1911 Henry Melly made the first non-stop flight from his base at Waterloo just north of Liverpool to Trafford Park, Manchester. He was joined on this trip by his passenger A Dukinfield Jones and they flew to Trafford Park to meet Roe, who wanted to show them Trafford Park's new aerodrome. The landing strip was close to Tennax Circle and the intention was to wave white flags to alert Melly to the landing area however it ended up being too late to do this and so white sheets were placed onto the ground in an X shape marking out the landing area.
On 7 July 2011, 100 years after this historic flight, historians in Liverpool arranged a Centenary flight to mark out and celebrate Melly's achievement. Five light aircraft set off from Liverpool and flew over Trafford Park, close to the original landing area. Enthusiasts and staff from the Trafford Park Heritage Centre stood close to the landing place and re-enacted the original event by marking a cross on the ground using white sheets.
At the Centre, we also marked the occasion by hosting a talk from Alan Schofield who is a civil aviation expect in Manchester. Researchers and historians were brought together in the centre for the talk and a lunch after the aircraft had flown over.
The event has been marked on a number of online forums and was also reported in the Trafford Messnger and the Sale and Altincham Messenger. Kevin Flanagan, Director of the Centre stated this was an important occasion to mark the little known fact that Trafford had an aerodrome for a short period of time in its history. "It is important that we mark these occasions which many take for granted."