British Aircraft Manufacturers Since 1908

130 Pages·1995·95.18 MB·English

by  Günter Endres

British
Aircraft
Manufacturers
S•Ince
1908
Half-title:
Designedandbuiltinsixmonths,theAvroYorkmilitary
transportusedLancasterwings,enginesandtailunitwiththe
additionofacentralfin. Productionamountedto350,anda
numberwenttoBOACandsmallerairlines.

British Aircraft
Manufacturers since 1908
Gunter Endres
Contents
Firstpublished1995 Bibliography 4 EnglishElectric 61
Foreword 5 Fairey 62
ISBN071102409X
Introduction 5 Folland 67
Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthis ABC 6 FosterWikner 67
bookmaybereproducedortraus AIRCO 6 General 68
mittedinanyformorbyany
means,electronicormechanical, Airspeed 8 Gloster 70
includingphotocopying, Alliance 10 Grahame-White 72
tecordingorbyanyinformation
storageandretrievalsystem, ANEC 11 HandleyPage 72
withoutpermissionfromthe ArmstrongWhitworth 11 Hawker 77
Publisherinwriting. Arpin 14 HawkerSiddeley 79
©IanAllanLtd1995 Arrow 15 Hendy 82
ASL 15 Heston 82
PublishedbyIanAllanPublishing Auster 16 Hillson 83
animpriutofIanAllanLtd, Austin 18 Hunting 84
TerminalHouse,Station AviationTraders 18 London& Provincial 85
Approach,Shepperton,
SurreyTWl78AS. Avro 20 Luton 85
PrintedbyranAllanPrintingLtd, BAC 25 Marendaz 85
CoombelandsHouse, BAMC 25 Martin-Baker 86
CoombelandsLane,Addlestone,
Weybridge,SurreyKTI5 IHY. BAT 26 Martinsyde 86
Beagle 26 Miles 89
Frontcover: Beardmore 26 NDN 91
G-ACSS,thethirdDH88
Blackburn 28 Pat'nall 92
Comettobebuilt,wonthe
speedsectionofthe1934 BoultonPaul 32 Percival 92
EnglandtoAustraliaairrace. Bristol 36 Pobjoy 98
Itispreservedatthe
ShuttleworthTrust.BAe BritishAerospace(BAe) 39 Portsmouth 98
BritishAircraftCorporation Robinson 98
Backcover: (BAC) 45 RoyalAircraftFactory 99
Jaguarstrikeaircraft.BAe
Britten-Norman 48 Saunders-Roe 100
Titlepage: Carden-Baynes 49 ScottishAviation 103
AlthoughitwastheRAF's
Central 49 Shorts 103
firstfour-enginebomber,the
ShortsStirlingdidnotenjoy Chilton 49 Slingsby 110
thepopularityoftheHalifax Chrislea 51 Sopwith III
andLancaster.Itslow
serviceceilingandinability Civilian 51 Southern 112
tocarrythelargerbombs, Comper 51 Spartan 113
becauseofthebombbay Cunliffe-Owen 52 Supermarine 113
configuration,wereagainst
it,butthe2,209deliveredto Dart 52 TragoMills 115
theRAFperformedauseful deBolotoff 52 Vickers 116
service,laterversions
Deekay 52 Westland 121
excellinginglidertowing.A
further160werebuiltas deHavilland 53 WhiteandThompson 128
long-rangetransports. Edgley 61
M.J. HooksCollection
Bibliography A.1.Jackson,BlackburnAircraftsince1909.Putnam
A.1.Jackson,BritishCivilAircraftsince 1919,Vols 1,2
C.F.AndrewsandE.B.Morgan,SupermarineAircraft and3.Putnam
since 1914.Putnam A.J.Jackson,DeHavillandAircraftsince 1915.Putnam
C.H.Barnes,HandleyPageAircraftsince 1907.Putnam Derek .James,Hawker:anAircraftAlbum.IanAllan
CharlesGardner,BritishAircraftCorporation. Jane'sAlltheWorld'sAircraft.Jane'sInformationGroup
BillGunston,WorldEncyclopaediaofAircraft Jane'sEncyclopaediaofAviation.Jane'sInformationGroup
Manufacturers.PatrickStephens Jane'sFightingAircraftofWorldWarII.Jane's
E.A.HarlinandG.A.Jenks,Avro: anAircraftAlbum. InformationGroup
IanAllan FrancisK.Mason,HawkerAircraftsince 1920.Putnam
A.J.Jackson,AvroAircraftsince 1908.Putnam JamesD.Oughton,Bristol:anAircraftAlbum.IanAllan
4
Foreword
British aircraft manufacture is approaching its 90th entrepreneurial spmt that has distinguished the
anniversary. Itwas in the summerof 1907 thatAlliot aircraft manufacturing industry in Britain.
Verdon Roe began constructing his Roe I biplane, Unfortunately, bunglinggovernmentsoftencouldand
achieving severalhops before making the first recog did, and today, Shorts and British Aerospace are all
nised flight by an Englishman in an aircraft of his that is left·of a once proud and prolific tradition.
owndesign atBrooklandson 8June 1908. Soonafter Shorts, while now flourishing under foreign owner
the first company set up specifically to build aero ship, nolongerbuildscompleteairframes, and British
planes, was registered. World War 1 provided an Aerospace's future is closely bound up in collabora
upsurge in the demand for military flying machines, tive ventures with European partners. It has no new
and unforgotten men like Geoffrey de Havilland, indigenousaircraftprojectsonthedrawingboard, and
Thomas Sopwithandothers came up with the aircraft the continual changes in strategy and lack of clear
thatcouldengageinaerialcombatwithan enemythe direction, do not bode well for the future. In today's
country was to face again 25 years later. After the economic climate, it is unlikely that from the fast
first battle was won, great airliners and sporting diminishing band of small enterprises, aircraft will
aircraft largely supplanted military biplanes and emergeonceagain, thatareatruereflectionofBritish
monoplanes until the mid-1930s when renewed expertise and design genius. It is, therefore, from the
threats again filled factories with thousands of war pastthatwe need tofind thatsparkofenthusiasmand
machines. Among them were such types as the remind ourselves ofthe men and machines that gave
Supermarine Spitfire, Hawker Hurricane and Avro Britainaplaceintheskiesamongthebest.
Lancaster, whichwillforever retain aspecialplace in
theheartsandhistoryoftheBritishpeople. GUnterEndres
Although many companies struggled and some Sussex
succumbed to economic pressures between the wars February1995
and after 1945, peacetime could never extinguish the
Introduction
The British aircraft manufacturers described in this different companies are listed under the original
bookreflectabroad history ofnearly nine decades of manufacturer, although details of their subsequent
prodigious output, shaped strongly by two.world vicissitudesareprovidedwithinthesameentry.
wars. It is not intended to be a definitive and all The author would like to acknowledge with grati
embracing.review - with many great designers and tude the valuable assistance of Mike Hooks, who
manufacturersdeservingseveral volumesoftheirown provided almost all of the expert captions to a great
- but rather to provide a quick reference guide to selection of 250 photographs, which al)1ply illustrate
placeon thebookshelfalongsideotherhistorictomes. the sheer breadth, ingenuity and success of British
Spacelimitationsprohibitthe mentionofeveryproto aircraft design since the very beginnings of heavier
type and production aircraftofeach manufacturer, so than-air flight. He also read the text, ensuring that
the author has, therefore, chosen to restrict coverage there were no serious errors and omissions.
generally to the most important or interesting Photographshavebeen providedfrom the archives of
subjects. For the same reasons, manufacturers of Ian Allan, Mike Hooks, Philip Jarrett and the author.
airships, gliders, microlights and gyrocopters have Asfew ofthemanufacturersreviewedinthisbookare
had to be omitted, as are those companies that stillinexistence, liberalreference has hadto be made
produced only foreign aircraft under licence rather to manyotherexcellentpublications, without which it
than indigenous designs. Aircraft built at the bottom would have been near impossible to complete British
of the garden by individuals, rather than companies, Aircraft Manufacturers Since 1908 to the high stan
also hadto be leftout. Afew aircraftwhose design or dardexpectedfrom thereader.
production was taken over by a succession of
5
ABC Above:
ABCRobin. PhilipJarrettCollection
Producers of piston engines, ABC Motors Ltd of
Walton-on-Thames, Surrey, built one single-seat Below: •
cabin monoplane, designed by A. A. Fletcher and ThesingleprototypeoftheAircoDH3bombershowing
known astheABCRobin. Itfirstflew inJune 1929at thewingsfolded. Itwaspoweredbytwo 120hp
Brooklands, powered by ABC's 40hp Scorpion Beardmoreengines. Onemodifiedversion,theDH3A,
followed butdidnotenterproduction.
engine, butwasscrappedin 1932.
AIRCO
were used on cross-Channel services in 1919. The
TheAircraftManufacturingCoLtd wasestablishedat single-seat DH5 was designed in 1916 as a replace
TheHyde, Hendon, by George HoltThomas in 1912, mentfortheDH2 and featured abackward staggerof
but did not start aircraft production until midway the upper wing to provide the pilot with improved
through 1914 when Geoffrey de Havillandjoined as forward visionofthepusher-enginedaircraft.
chiefdesigner. De Havilland's first design for Airco De Havilland's later fame for designing superb
was the DHI, a two-seat reconnaissance biplane training aircraft began with the two-seat DH6, of
powered by asingle70hp Renault inlineengine. This which more than 2,280 were built. The DH9 of 1917
was soon replaced by the 120hp Beardmore, which wasareplacementfortheDH4andwasfurtherdevel
resulted in the DHIA. An urgent requirement for a oped into the DH9A, which became one of the
high-performance single-seat fighter led to the DH2, outstandingstrategic bombers ofWorldWar I. In the
againapusher,butfitted withaGnomeMonosoupape immediate postwar years, it was used extensively on
engine and first flown in July 1915. Some 400 were pioneering air services. The only other types to be
built and were followed by the DH3/3A bomber, de built by Airco were the DHIO Amiens, a three-seat
Havilland's first twin-engined design, and the very heavy bomber, powered by a pair of Rolls-Royce
fast and successful two-seat DH4/4A day bomber Eagle or AmericanLiberty engines, and the four-seat
(1,449 built), first flown in August 1916. Civil DH4s DHI6andeight-seatDH18airliners,operatedbyHolt
Left:
Almost6,300deHavillandDH4s
werebuiltinover60variantswith
22differentengines;ofthese, more
than4,800weremanufacturedby
five UScompanies.O-BARIwasa
cabinconversion, oneoffouroper
atedbytheBelgianairlineSNETA
oncross-channel routes.
Below:
DesignedtoreplacetheDH4,the
deHavillandDH9wasdeveloped
intotheDH9A(illustrated)with
variousenginesinthe375-465hp
rangeincludingthe Rolls-Royce
EagleandAmerican Liberty.
)
Left:
AircraftTransport&Traveloper
atedtheprototypedeHavilland
DH18fromApriltoAugust 1920
whenitwaswreckedinaforced
landing.Theotherfivebuiltwere
used byInstoneAirLine.
SamsonClark
7
Thomas' own and Britain's first airline, Aircraft Tiltman then incorporated moderndesign concepts in
TransportandTravelLtd. Butwithmilitary orderscut the six-seat ASS Courier cabin monoplane, the fIrst
drasticallyandtheBritishGovernment'sshort-sighted British type with flaps and a retractable undercar
decision not to support the fledgling civil aviation riage, using a hand pump mechanism. The Courier
industry, Holt Thomas' companies were forced into made its first flight on 11 April 1933 at Portsmouth,
liquidation in 1920. Their assets were bought by the where Airspeed had moved into larger premises and
Birmingham Small Arms Co (BSA), which had no was then reformed as Airspeed (1934) Ltd when it
intentionoftakingovertheaviationactivities. became associated with the famous Tyneside ship
buildingfirmofSwan,Hunter& WighamRichardson
Airspeed Ltd.This was quicklyfollowed withastretchedtwin
engined development, designated the AS6 Envoy,
The fIrst aircraft to be produced by Airspeed Ltd, which saw service with a number of airlines and air
established by A. H. Tiltman and N. S. Norway in forcesafter 1934.
York, was the AS4 Ferry, designed in 1932for plea The AS10Oxford was designed to an AirMinistry
sureflying toSirAlanCobham'sspecification.Itwas specification and flew for the first time on 19 June
an exceptionally large three-engined wooden bi·fllane 1937. The Oxford became the RAP's first twin
with Gipsy engines and could carry 10 passengers. enginedcantilever monoplane trainer when.itentered
Above:
TheAirspeedCourier, ofwhich 16
werebuilt, wasnormallypowered
byanArmstrong SiddeleyLynxor
Cheetahengine(240-277hp)but
thisexamplewasusedtotestthe
325hp NapierRapierIVengine.
M. J. HooksCollection
Left:
TheprewarCzechoslovakAirlines
(CSA)employedfourAirspeed
AS6E EnvoyIlls,mainlyonthe
Prague-Moscowservice, inaugu
ratedon2September1936.
8
service with the Central Flying School in November Top:
TheattractiveAS57Ambassadorhadashortlife,
that same year. More than 8,500 were eventually
enteringserviceonlyayearbeforetheturboprop
produced in five main versions for military use, and
VickersViscount.Afterbeing retiredfrom British
Airspeedconvertedsome 160surplusairframes mtoa
EuropeanAirwaysin 1958,manyfoundtheirwayto
commercial six-seat light transport, redesignated as chartercompanies, wheretheywereusedas
theAS65Consul,between 1946and 1948.Duringthe passengerandcargotransports.
war, Airspeed also built nearly 3,800 AS5] Horsa I
Above:
and AS58 Horsa II military gliders, whose most
TheAirspeedConsulwasapostwarconversion of
famous hour came during the D-Day landings. The
surplusOxfordairframesandcouldcarrysixpassen
AS39FleetShadower,designedforshadowingenemy
gers. Itfilled ausefulgapuntilmoremodernequipment
naval vessels during hours ofdarkness, and theAS45 becameavailable. M. J. HooksCollection
9