Airport | Shell Historical Film Archive

[@JuanRamirez-xz6de]

I like to see the way people lived in the past, very elegant the people who used to travel by plane in those days. Greetings from Nogales Sonora México.

[@retreatingblade1]

That brought back some memories, especially the flashing beacon at 15:25. It was on the corner of the hangar I worked in and at lunchtimes in the summer I'd climb up there and have my sandwich peering out over the airfield. Happy days.

[@karavalle12]

Handley Page HP42 Heracles.👏👏👏 Thank you for this beautiful souvenir video! It was the beginning of aviation! This plane was impressive! Thank you for also showing the maintenance of the engines by the technicians! Another beautiful page from the flight aviation!

[@mohabatkhanmalak1161]

I lived in the U.A.E in the early 1970's, and the old Sharjah airport🦋 used to be one of the stopovers for the Imperial Airways east bound Handley Pages on their way to India and Australia. On one side of the desert airport was a fortress, which served as a motel for travel weary passengers - the rooms and halls would have been airconditioned and provided with those period ceiling fans. Those were times when marauding tribesmen were out and about but that place was very secure. 🐝Twenty kms away, Dubai also was a stopover point but for the Imperial Airways flying boats, which landed on its creek. All this was in the 1920's, 30's. There are archive films on YT about that airport, good viewing for history and nostalgia.🌿

[@JUSTENization]

Absolutely amazing footages. I’m a 33-year aerospace engineer to this day and this is the first time I see this 42-seater Handley! How embarrassing! The previous episode 1950 “air port” was also amazing; those Constellations are so beautiful! Thanks for uploading.

[@mrrolandlawrence]

yes the old 42 had to factor in wind speed as sometimes the headwinds were too much for the biplane to make it. The uk really loved biplanes during this time.

[@mervforse5113]

the connie , the most beautiful prop airliner ever made. i was so lucky to watch these as a boy, such a good time to grow up in.

[@glynwelshkarelian3489]

If you think the HP 42 is bulky you should see British 'airliners' from just before. The Handley Page was a greyhound compared to a fat donkey by comparison. Myth has it that a US airline exec complained the British airlines made more money from selling passengers alcohol than tickets, because their planes were so slow. I think that's b/s, but 'leisurely' was definitely how the British did many things.

[@abuyalatip7590]

I love to see the flag on top of the cockpit before the take-off and after landing. It seems they followed the same rules as ships in the sea. 😅

[@ednammansfield8553]

A wonderful documentary film and a piece of early aviation history between the wars. Just four years later the country once more would be at war with much advances in aircraft design and into the jet age and rocket technology. Thank you Shell for making this film.

[@Aubury]

Something out of the film, Things to Come. A heroic feeling to this gem.

[@rogerbrown1750]

My Mother worked there in 1956,as a kid I spent a lot of time roaming around the airport,good years for a kid.

[@paulazemeckis7835]

Much respect for the British for advancing aviation. Plus I love their accent! Hello from sunny and warm St. Petersburg, Florida.

[@shawnmartin7219]

Nobody cares where you are from And no, I am not jealous, as I am Lauderdale snowbird

[@glynwelshkarelian3489]

So how old is Clearwater? Is there an aviation museum near you?

[@alwaysfair4991]

Hello from Blighty 🇬🇧🇺🇲👍

[@SimonGardiner-bj3pq]

Accent is the old 'Norman' upper class that was developed to be easily recognised by those who needed to obey it! PAX BRITANNICA! Now look what a world you have got - well done!!

[@jaywalker3087]

My father, born 1922 , lived directly opposite the aerodrome. During WW11 he organised dances at the airport Hotel and met my mother there....

[@Texasstyle67]

How good is that film . I made the Croydon airport for x plane nearly only based of 2 photographs i found. Now i see it in action and can remidel the airport. So many thanks for that jewel of cinematic

[@johnlawrence2757]

The narrator Carleton Hobbes was a big star in radio in those days . After WW2 and the arrival of TV to replace radio as the mass medium of the air he retained his celebrity status by playing Sherlock Holmes in radio drama’s adaptations of Conan Doyle’s stories with Norman Shelley as his Dr Watson : they were both also leading characters in the famous children’s drama “Toytown” but I can’t remember which characters they were in that. And I speak as someone who used to watch the planes land at Croydon - sometimes as many as four or five a day - from the balcony of our house on Duppas Hill

[@simonbertioli4696]

I remember my father talking and taking me to Heathrow, He had to do work there, on radios and engines. Mainly the sensors for the gauges in the cop pit. Way before what it is today..by the runway in old round roof huts.. Magical days.... So this video brings it al back.. Thanks 👍 Wonderful 😊

[@althejazzman]

These old documentaries have a magical optimism to them. It must have been so exciting but the technology looks so inadequate and fragile compared to today.

[@DavidNichols-lx8us]

When I was a young bloke I was thrown off the disused Croydon aerodrome for trying to fly a free flight model powered by a whopping 1cc engine. Just as well as it would probably flown over the Purley way busy main road. On revisiting the site many years later I discovered that the. Croydon council still ban model aircraft on their 1/3 of it but the Sutton and Cheam council are happy for radio control flying to happen on their 2/3rds so long as one does not fly over Croydon's bit! The place still has a great sense of nostalgia though so thanks for the video.

[@paulhelman2376]

One of my Wakefield class free flights overflew O'Hare airport. I launched from a field west of the field and it landed in the back yard of a town just east of O'Hare.

[@joãoAlberto-k9x]

Amen.❤.

[@PRH123]

Fascinating video, thanks...! What a galumphing beast that handley page was, their crew must have melted into the ground with shame when a douglas or a junkers taxied by... or flew by at twice the speed...

[@thesmallerhalf1968]

Not a fair comparison really. The speed of aircraft development was fast and furious between the wars, the Junkers and the DC2 were much smaller than the HP42. The latter was the largest ever plane when first flown, and the challenges of upscaling are evident in the design. The HP certainly looks from a different era, but still had 3 times the passenger capacity of the much newer DC2. I suspect the crews were quite happy flying the behemoth of the time, and it was British after all.

[@PRH123]

@@thesmallerhalf1968 hmm, scaling up old designs rarely works better than a new one, especially at that time of fast paced developments…. hp carried 24 pax, and dc2 14…. cruise 100 vs 190…. I’m still pretty sure the hp pilots experienced some embarrassment:)

[@markshrimpton3138]

My aunt’s father, Frederick Stanley Mockford, devised the Mayday call while working as the senior radio officer at Croydon in the 1920s. He was later to work for the Marconi company.

[@othernewsid2]

wow

[@markshrimpton3138]

@@othernewsid2 he also devised the phonetic alphabet, that with some alterations, is still being used.

[@timeresrch]

At 7:18 you can see the plane flying over the Purley Way playing fields, with the open air swimming pool under construction down to the left! And in the middle distance is St Peter's church! I used to train for cross-country races over that grass!

[@mrrolandlawrence]

Great video. We need more video footage on Croydon Airport! For such an important part of british aviation history its unrepresented.

[@markylon]

It's still there you can see the airport buildings and runway

[@glynwelshkarelian3489]

@@markylon You have to go looking though, at least I did decades ago, before smart phones. I've looked it up and it now has a 'micro museum' and is open on the first Sunday of the month. Not a very bright light for visitors.

[@alburooj7904]

I greatly appreciate all seniors who,by writing about personal experiences, contributed to the beauty of the documentary by Shell. And by the way, did Shell embrace the oil industry and tv documentary production at its early stages.

[@talesfromthehutandhangar]

Wow, what a wonderful film.

[@nilanjanmoitra4249]

I live in Calcutta (now rechristened as Kolkata) so it felt great seeing it getting spotted on the map of the planes' routes. Have been so hooked up to the videos on this channel!!!

[@dukwdriver2909]

1935 the year my parents were married and bought their house not far from Croydon Airport. Not realising the Lufthansa pilots were learning the approaches to London for war just 4 short years later. A fighter station that had the chimneys of bordering houses trimmed when a damaged heavy bomber tried an emergency landing. All built over now.

[@A0A4ful]

7:38 And we see the Swastika on the tail of the Lufthansa, the emblem seen on the German Airforce, which would make the bombing runs by the end of the decade...?

[@zekharye1]

The Swiss were ahead of the pack, with their sleek, streamlined Douglas aircraft.

[@Oliver-kf5cy]

Isn't it amazing how much the DC-3 stuck out? And even more amazing is that some of them are still flying in commercial service. It's timeless engineering!

[@MarcvanExel]

@@Oliver-kf5cy That was actually a DC-2 ;) No DC-3's in this video yet.

[@ivanlussich8146]

I am from Uruguay, 85, and I did fly in a DC-3 twice in 1965 MVD/ PDP, Pluna airlines, just before they were phased out. Noisy yet fine aircraft. Later flew on practically all Western jetliners, except Concorde.

[@FayazAhmad-yl6sp]

Visited in 1935 free of cost. The DC-1 or DC-2 was modren aeroplanes in this film manufactured in 1933 and 1934. The air traffic controlling system was very interesting.

[@zakelwe]

Very enjoyable. Flying to Australia was very intrepid back in those days, a lot of the route not close to civilsation, including the final destination ( only kidding Aussie brothers :) ). Strange to think that 5 years after that film was done a different sort of flying was predominant in SE England. The swastika on the tail of that Junkers a portent of things to come. It was seen as perfectly natural back when this was filmed of course.

[@paulazemeckis7835]

Back when flying wasn't that safe. Am grateful to the flying public back then.

[@geoffcrisp7225]

The Heracles to me look like slow lumbering dinosaurs taking off compared to the monoplanes.. What an exciting time in aviation. The white main building of Croyon Airport still stands alongside the A23 Purley Way.

[@abuyalatip7590]

It's really amazing during those days, where radar was still not yet been invented, they used the triangular method of detecting the radio waves transmitted by the aircraft to locate its exact location and direction as shown at 8:30. That's the basis of our present day GPS technology.

[@studebaker4217]

This year really shows how far developed aviation had become. Makes me wonder how the first flights got going, the first pairs of runways got built and how passengers were induced to fly. Recently I found a family photo print of a passenger plane in 1928 - quite surprising to see a 'now-normal' event occur.

[@mikeNorman-n8p]

great film. As a small boy did my plane spotting at Croydon airport. Michael

[@freespiritnufc5661]

The wonder of the world doesn't fail to impress ,just wish more people would appreciate life's wonderful technology and stop moaning 👌🌻🌈

[@thamesmud]

Must have been grim during the pea-soupers without blind landing aids.

[@boeingpameesha9550]

My sincere thanks for sharing it.🙏🏼

[@karavalle12]

thank you very much for this comment.!.The stops of that time, were still few and far between!.the global network was taking shape!people from all nations already loved aviation..However, among the respected "dinausores" of this glorious era, this particular plane fascinated me..I have a 33-year experience in aviation..as a technician..I finished my career on the A320!but, I would like one or more developers to produce this veteran of the good years

[@abuyalatip7590]

I think those aircraft in 1930's were not cabin pressurized. They needed to maintain a decent height so that the passengers won't suffer altitude sickness due to lack of oxygen.

[@joãoAlberto-k9x]

Amen.❤.

[@barkebaat]

5:01 - Notice how they retract the flag before setting off!

[@simonf8902]

Edward Anstey was the genius behind all the BTI railway movies.

[@clivelee4279]

Most interesting, thank you . 50.000 miles T.B.O , and gallon’s of oil burned, good business for Shell .

[@ricklehurst]

Croydon was not the first UK international airport, that was Hounslow Heath. 🤷‍♂

[@1959tr3s]

You are correct. The term airport came about because a port has customs facilities and aircraft flying to the continent had to land at Hounslow heath to get clearance

[@joãoAlberto-k9x]

Shell.❤.

[@neville132bbk]

The amazing HP 42s

[@titiparisien5915]

Outstanding

[@dubinatub1]

Great to watch

[@richardcummins5465]

Info.The site was eventually built on in 1965/69. About 1600 dwellings built by Croydon and Sutton councils as a joint venture. All road names were airport related ie Heracles Close, Brabazon Ave etc . Mostly still standing.

[@srinivasaraoyp3640]

Amazing.

[@1959tr3s]

Note the flag flying above the cockpit on the HP42. The flag was raised on landing and lowered for take off. Other airlines would fly their own flags if fitted. This action gave rise to the term "flag carrier airlines" like BOAC.

[@KimWentworth-y8e]

This is really cool.

[@aliimran5503]

Imagine! Croydon then and now 2024

[@drewjamila3868]

From now on I wonder how will be aviation in the next 40 years? Do planes in the future still looks the same?.. Or maybe planes powered by hydrogen or electricity

[@syedalamgir5838]

Nice information

[@mohammedafsal8976]

Luckily no runaways to align with...😊....even the natzi plane went there those times...to come back with bombs a few years later...History is amazing...

[@BrieCheese2]

Imagine filming with with a film camera in 1935 08:25

[@SimonGardiner-bj3pq]

Food much better in them, no airport delays either - no having to sleep on the floor in the departure longe!!

[@SimonGardiner-bj3pq]

No 'terrorists either

[@photosphotos]

Did anyone spot the German junkers taking off with its rear insignia… lol

[@alwaysfair4991]

Yep

[@alfabethev2.074]

That this thing actually can fly..😳

[@SueUTube]

The ten gallon requirement for fill-ups is too much. I don't want my needle near empty. Require five gallons and twice the number.

[@sailormancolb]

My comment should read transferred to Waddon.

[@Gopinathk17]

Wow

[@cardend]

I would like to transcribe or dub the films to the Brazilian Portuguese,

[@joãoAlberto-k9x]

Dead language as the spanish.

[@johnathandaviddunster38]

Shell means smell ...😮

[@onehappykamper]

What was the accident rate 90 years ago? All that hand navigation... weather info being relayed... And that radial engine maintenance! Yikes

[@PDZ1122]

The HP 42s only had one fatal accident. Yes, statistically that's bad, but I'd feel safer in one of those than a modern airliner any day.

[@glynwelshkarelian3489]

Then passenger aircraft were much: fewer; slower; shorter ranged. Bad visibility then was a potential killer, but short range meant any aircraft had less chance of deviation; and the clumsy '3 point baring' was good enough to get the few craft landing, to near the aerodrome with it's 'bright' lights. On the other hand if there are almost no other aircraft there's almost no danger of collision.

[@drewjamila3868]

@@PDZ1122I think you should research more about aviation

[@PDZ1122]

@@drewjamila3868 I'm speaking from the perspective of someone who is a pilot and restorer of old aircraft, not a KZbin keyboard armchair expert.

[@giaenzochannel9615]

7:31 Batavia

[@jeremyfine1464]

ADF I heard of. Gonadometer, not so much.

[@SimonGardiner-bj3pq]

Bit better tan 'Tic Tok'!!!

[@Martin6579-n7n]

I am the first comment

[@shell]

Yes you are :-)

[@pvpcatz]

@@shelldisgusting

[@Kuricang31]

​@@pvpcatz Touch grass

[@sandydennylives1392]

Rather not fly in the Haracles old bean, not for all the tea in China.

[@1959tr3s]

Then you would have missed flying in one of the safest aircraft ever built. They flew over 1m miles in service and never had an accident.

[@simonf8902]

Marvel

[@zaz214]

Maybe a bit more effort into your titles. Great video but... Airport?

[@Partooooon]

That is the original title of the documentary

[@thamesmud]

I grew up just across the Purley Way. We always called it Croydon Aerodrome. That was in the late 1950's early 1960's.

[@johannesbols57]

OK, SNOWFLAKE.

[@zaz214]

@@johannesbols57 thank u for your service.

[@glynwelshkarelian3489]

Up yourself@@johannesbols57

[@Deshbhakt-hx9du]

❤😂😂🎉🎉😂😂❤❤😂🎉🎉😂😂❤❤😂😂🎉

[@jaywalker3087]

Stop Destroying Our World... Shell made great films- but that was then ..... Just saying..

[@moxiesaint-clare4257]

89 years ago, it just doesn't look real🤣. On a more sober note, how quickly we have progressed in such a few fleeting years.

[@clivelee4279]

Most interesting, thank you . 50.000 miles T.B.O , and gallon’s of oil burned, good business for Shell .