During the rail strike in 1919, the RAF and Vickers Ltd had flown mail and newspapers from London to Castle Bromwich aerodrome.

From 1920, and every year into the 1930s, the British Industries Fair (the forerunner of the National Exhibition Centre), was held in buildings built on land adjacent to the aerodrome and Castle Bromwich railway station.

In 1934, the Air Ministry stated that Castle Bromwich aerodrome could not be used for civil purposes indefinitely, so a new airport was built at Elmdon (some five miles (8.0 km) away), that is just outside the Birmingham city boundary.

The airfield was also used for experimental purposes, including the Handley Page H.P.54 Harrow, an early twin-engined heavy bomber.

As the Second World War approached, the Air Minister, Kingsley Wood, asked Lord Nuffield if he would establish a new shadow factory to produce aeroplanes.

Castle Bromwich Aeroplane Factory was then the largest of its kind in Britain; it covered 345 acres (1.40 km2)[2] and employed 12,000 people.

The site plan shows main offices, drawing offices, tool rooms, stores for finished parts, areas for the assembly of wings and fuselages, and covering of tailplanes and fins, drape shops (for covering of parts including petrol tanks), canteens, surgeries, sports and social clubs, and power-generating plants.

Alex Henshaw was Chief Test Pilot from 1940 to 1945, personally putting more than 10% of the aeroplanes produced through their paces, and providing some spectacular air displays with Spitfires.

Henshaw became a celebrated flyer before the war by winning the King's Cup Air Race, and also by completing a record breaking solo flight to Cape Town and back.

The aerodrome was also used by the following units:[18] The airfield closed in 1958, and in 1960 the site and that of the British Industries Fair, plus nearby farmland, was sold for housing.

The runway was broken up, the buildings were demolished, and construction of a Birmingham overspill estate (Castle Vale) started in 1964, and completed in 1969.