Once a key Royal Naval Air Station and now a thriving airport that underpins the largest designated employment site on the south coast, Daedalus has a rich history.

Facts:

1. 1917 – Daedalus is established as a Naval Seaplane Training School with two officers and thirty men under the command of Squadron Commander DCS Evill DSC RN.
2. 1918 – Royal Naval Air Service becomes part of the nearly formed RAF and 465 people based at the site.
3. 1939 – the Fleet Air Arm transfers to Admiralty control and the Station is one of the first ex-RAF stations commissioned as one of His Majesty’s ships: HMS Daedalus.
4. 6 June 1944, D-Day, HMS Daedalus is a base for over 100 fighter aircraft and the busiest airfield in the country. The RAF are joined by Canadian Typhoons and Mustangs, along with US Navy Squadron VOS-7, who use the airfield as the base for their Spitfires. A total of 435 sorties were carried out between dawn and dusk. This number was the largest achieved by any UK airfield and the highest of any tactical air force to date.
5. 1996 – HMS Daedalus formally closes after being decommissioned. A decade later, ownership passes to the Homes and Communities Agency and Marine Coastguard Agency and, in 2012, much of the site, with the exception of the airport, becomes the Solent Enterprise Zone at Daedalus.
6. 2015 the Daedalus site is purchased by Fareham Borough Council. The airport is renamed Solent Airport at Daedalus to mark a new beginning, millions of pounds are invested into the site and a café with viewing area opens to the public.
7. Today Solent airport thrives with around 35,000 flight movements a year and the public can still enjoy watching Spitfires at various times of the year from the viewing area adjacent to the refurbished control tower.

Information:
Solent Airport at Daedalus, Lee-on-the-Solent
Hampshire PO13 9FZ

Summer hours: 09:00 – 18:00 (local)
Winter house: 0900 – sunset (local)
Closed: Christmas Day, Boxing Day, New Years Day

01329 824748
www.fareham.gov.uk