and the airport was handed over to the Ministry of Civil Aviation, becoming Blackbushe Airport. The A30 was reopened to traffic. Ministry of Civil Aviation In February 1947 the airfield was opened as Blackbushe Airport under the control of the Ministry of Civil Aviation. Full customs facilities were provided for both air transport operators and the private owners of light and executive aircraft. Over the next few years, airlines such as Britavia, Westminster Airways, Airwork, and Silver City all moved in operating Lancastrians (passenger aircraft derived from Lancaster bombers), DC-3s, and Bristol Freighters. Movements by 1950 had risen to 11,000 per year, with 16,000 passengers. The 1950s saw further expansion, Air Contractors started a scheduled service to the Channel Islands, and Eagle Aviation launched several routes to Europe on DC-3s and Viking airliners. Britavia and Airwork also brought in the Hermes airliner, flying charters to Africa and Australia. Blackbushe became a robust diversion airport for London Heathrow, and as a home for aircraft visiting the Farnborough Airshow. The facilities were constantly being upgraded with new buildings, runway extensions, and new navigational aids and lighting. Overseas-based charter airlines often used Blackbushe for their flight to the UK, normally finding that the airfield was open for operations, even when other airports in the London area were closed by fog. The airfield's hilltop position helped in this respect. The Avro Yorks of Tropic Airways of Johannesburg visited for several years. Blackbushe was used as a major location for the 1956 film The Crooked Sky in which the former RAF station buildings and then current commercial aircraft are seen. The airport was also used as a filming location in the making of the 1951 film No Highway in the Sky directed by Henry Koster, starring James Stewart, Marlene Dietrich and Jack Hawkins. United States Navy operations From the early 1950s, the United States Navy (USN) had a facility on the north-east edge of the airport which frequently handled visiting naval aircraft. These included patrol types such as the Lockheed P2V Neptune and the Martin P4M Mercator. Large USN transports that used the airport regularly were the Douglas R5D Skymaster and Douglas R6D Liftmaster. In 1955 USN UK-based communications and liaison aircraft of FASRON 200, previously attached to RAF Hendon, in north London, were switched to Blackbushe. By 1955 the airport was handling 36,000 movements per year. The US Navy also set up a base