Description

In 1910, a former student of Lancing College, called Harold Piffard decided to create himself a flying base on a piece of grazing land, located nearby the river that runs between Lancing and Shoreham. Piffard was the first to courageously fly from Shoreham airfield in 1910, and this was when the story of Brighton City Airport began. Piffard, who came equipped with his Humming Bird aircraft, only stayed at Shoreham for a few months, but towards the end of 1910 the site had become much more popular with other flying enthusiasts, including the Pashley brothers. This was when the airport became locally known as Shoreham Airfield. On the 4th of July, 1911 the airfield was the starting point for the first recorded cargo flight.