Bessonneau Hangars at Kenley

The Bessonneau hangar belonging to 615 VGS.

Paul Burchell

615VGS's Bessonneau hangar after it collapsed under the weight of snow in January 1987.

Paul Burchell

the interior of the Bessonneau hangar after its collapse in January 1987, and a Schleicher ASW19 glider “squashed” inside!

Keith Chandler

The Bessonneau hangar intact at Kenley.

Anthony Yeoell

The Bessonneau hangar belonging to 615 VGS.

Paul Burchell

The Bessonneau hangar belonging to 615 VGS.

Paul Burchell

The Bessonneau hangar belonging to 615 VGS.

Paul Burchell

The interior of the Bessonneau hangar belonging to 615 VGS.

Paul Burchell

The interior of the Bessonneau hangar belonging to 615 VGS.

Paul Burchell

The Bessonneau hangar belonging to 615 VGS.

Paul Burchell

Bessonneau hangars from an earlier time at Kenley. These were sited to the west of the original Hayes Lane (running left to right across the photo) . You can see the permanent Belfast Truss hangars in the bottom left of the photo, which was taken in March 1918.

IWM Catalogue number Q111444.

An example of Bessonneau hangars at Ford aerodrome in October 1918.

IWM catalogue number Q113464

The Bessonneau hangar was originally devised by the French Company, Etablissements Bessonneau around 1910, as a portable canvas and wood tent for aircraft storage.

By the beginning of the Great War they were widely used by the French Aeronautique Militaire and were subsequently adopted by both the RFC and RNAS, often as temporary storage while permanent hangars were under construction, which is exactly how they were used at Kenley during the early days of the Air Acceptance Park in 1918.

Although the easily-assembled steel Bellman hangar came into use in the late 1930’s, Bessonneau hangars continued to be used by the RAF during WW2 and post-war a few survived as glider storage for the Air Training Corps, like the one at Kenley, which was erected in February 1980 to provide hangar space for 615 Volunteer Gliding Squadron after the destruction of Kenley’s last Belfast Truss hangar in 1978. On 14th January, 1987, the rear half of the Bessoneau hangar collapsed under a heavy snow fall, damaging all of 615 VGS’s gliders. On 16th February, 1987, No.16 Maintenance Unit either repaired or replaced the Bessoneau hangar. However, it deteriorated over time and a review by Headquarters Air Cadets resulted in the construction of a new purpose-built steel hangar and Headquarters building, which was completed on 9th April, 1993.

The last surviving examples of Bessoneau hangars were at Odiham, Halton and Weston-Super-Mare. There are now thought to be no original complete Bessonneau hangars in existence in Britain.