Visiting City Airport & Heliport – Manchester (formerly Barton Aerodrome)

We have visited City Airport a number of times. It’s formal title is actually City Airport & Heliport, although I understand that the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) know it as Manchester/Barton. Prior to last weeks visit our most recent visit was in May – you can read my post following that visit at this link.

The airport has been around in one guise or another since as long ago as 1928 and there’s an interesting read to be had by checking out the Wikipedia entry here.

Sounds and smells

Although it’s not something I do a lot, I love to visit airports. There really is something about the size, scale, sound and smell that I like. Maybe it’s a throwback to the times as a small boy in the late 1960s/early 1970’s when I would cycle to Manchester Airport (or Ringway as it was called then) and while away hours and hours watching the aircrat come and go.

In those days there wasn’t the same need for huge perimeter fences and layer upon layer of security and so as odd as it might sound now we were actually able to sit just a matter of yards from the edge of the runway and look up and tick off the incoming and outgoing aircraft in our CAM books (Civil Aviation Markings). Any which way the enjoyment from close proximity to aircraft has always sort of fascinated me and I really do quite enjoy visiting City Airport.

The traffic on the airfield is made up of mainly light aircraft and small helicopters plying their trade and on some occasion with some gyrocopters or microlights making an appearance.

Despite a fair number of years passing since my visits to Ringway with my CAM book in hand I still find a kind of fascination with airports and aircraft and if the weather is good it’s a very decent way tp pass an hour or two watching the airfield activity and grabbing a sensibly priced coffee.