Gosforth Park in Newcastle was one of the stops in the Round Britain Air Race which took place between 22nd July and 5th August, 1911. The competition covered a 1,000 mile course with The Daily Mail offering a £10,000 prize. On the second stage of the competition, from Hendon to Edinburgh, the first flyers took off at 4am on Monday 24th July. After refueling at Harrogate, Jules Védrines of France was the first pilot to reach Gosforth Park at  8:45 am. Védrines went on to win the stage, touching down in Edinburgh at 11 am André Beaumont was the overall winner of the competition.

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Constance Leathart started flying lessons in 1925 with Newcastle Aero Club at Cramlington Aerodrome. She wrote her name as "C. R. Leathart" on the application form to disguise her gender, at a time when flying was almost exclusively the preserve of wealthy men.

Woolsington Aerodrome was opened by Sir Phillip Cunliffe-Lister (Secretary of State for Air) on the 26th July, 1935. The Aerodrome included a clubhouse of the Newcastle upon Tyne Aero Club, a hangar, workshops, fuel garage and a grass runway. It went on to become Newcastle International Airport.

Woolsington is located about 6 miles north-west of Newcastle city centre.

The airfield near Acklington was reopened on the 1st of April 1938, renamed as RAF Acklington (the airfield had initially operated by the Royal Flying Corps from 1916, and closed c.1920). RAF Acklington was initially used as No. 7 Armament Training Station, but soon after used by RAF Fighter Command as part of 13 Group as a sector airfield.

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The first flight from Teesside Airport (now Durham Tees Valley Airport) was in April 1964. This was a Mercury Airlines flight to Manchester. The airport was built on the former RAF Middleton St. George airfield, which was originally built in 1941, during World War 2. The RAF station was closed in 1963.

The fist Sunderland International Airshow was held in 1989. This was as a single day show, which attracted 250,000 spectators. Because of it's success the Airshow has become an annual, 3 day event, usually held in July each year, at the Roker and Seaburn seafronts.

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