Lippitts Hill
1967-
1nm W of Loughton, Loughton, Essex, England
51.654583, 0.01725 · 300 feet
Lippitts Hill, Waltham Abbey, Sewardstonebury, Epping Forest, Essex, England, IG10 4FE, United Kingdom
Nearby Locations
| Km | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 Whipps Cross Hospital |
EGL70 | 8.5 | 186° |
 Abridge |
9.0 | 091° | |
| Stapleford Tawney | EGSG | 9.5 | 091° |
| North Weald | EGSX | 12.0 | 052° |
| Valence Park |
GBDAG | 13.7 | 142° |
| Princess Alexandra Hospital |
EGE03 | 13.8 | 021° |
Multi-spot heliport with a short (250m) grass runway. Used by the Metropolitan Police Air Support Unit and later by NPAS as its London operating base.
Under a financially driven NPAS restructuring plan, Lippitts Hill closed in 2019 and the unit moved to North Weald, where its fixed wing assets could also operate. As so often where beauracratic Ivory Towers operate in the UK (eg the Meteorological Office and the Research Councils, the RAF and the DARA Super Hangar at St Athan), the Met Police was having none of it, since response times across London were suffering and threatened to withdraw from NPAS. NPAS rolled over and refurbished the Lippitts Hill site, which re-opened in 2021.
Under a financially driven NPAS restructuring plan, Lippitts Hill closed in 2019 and the unit moved to North Weald, where its fixed wing assets could also operate. As so often where beauracratic Ivory Towers operate in the UK (eg the Meteorological Office and the Research Councils, the RAF and the DARA Super Hangar at St Athan), the Met Police was having none of it, since response times across London were suffering and threatened to withdraw from NPAS. NPAS rolled over and refurbished the Lippitts Hill site, which re-opened in 2021.
Units
| 1976-2015 | London Metropolitan PoliceThe Met |
| 2015-2019 | NPASNPAS |
| 2021- | NPASNPAS |