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Beagle Aircraft Limited was a British light
aircraft An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air. It counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engine ...
manufacturer. The company produced the
Airedale Airedale is a geographic area in Yorkshire, England, corresponding to the river valley or dale of the River Aire. The valley stretches from the river's origin in Aire Head Springs, Malham which is in the Yorkshire Dales, down past Skipton on ...
,
Terrier Terrier (from Latin ''terra'', 'earth') is a type of dog originally bred to hunt vermin. A terrier is a dog of any one of many breeds or landraces of the terrier type, which are typically small, wiry, game, and fearless. Terrier breeds vary ...
, Beagle 206,
Husky Husky is a general term for a dog used in the polar regions, primarily and specifically for work as sled dogs. It refers to a traditional northern type, notable for its cold-weather tolerance and overall hardiness. Modern racing huskies that mai ...
and the Pup. It had factories at Rearsby in Leicestershire and Shoreham in Sussex. The company was dissolved in 1969.


History

The British Executive & General Aviation Limited (trading as BEAGLE) was formed in 1960 when
Peter Masefield Sir Peter Masefield (19 March 1914 - 14 February 2006) was a leading figure in Britain's post war aviation industry, as Chief Executive of British European Airways in the 1950s, and chairman of the British Airports Authority in the 1960s. Histor ...
left his post as Managing Director of Bristol Aircraft when that company was merged with others to form British Aircraft Corporation. His intention was to set up a company to design and produce a range of light aircraft, and he persuaded the
Pressed Steel Company Pressed Steel Company Limited was a British car body manufacturing business founded at Cowley near Oxford in 1926 as a joint venture between William Morris, Budd Corporation of Philadelphia USA, which held the controlling interest, and a Br ...
to invest in this project. An aircraft design office was created at Shoreham to design the Beagle 206, which was intended to be the company's flagship product. Beagle took over two separate aircraft manufacturers, Auster Aircraft Company of Rearsby, Leicestershire and F.G Miles Limited of Shoreham, Sussex, both of which also had design offices. Initially the arrangement with F.G Miles was a "technical association" as Fred Miles had no intention of selling out to Beagle but eventually George Miles was appointed Technical Director for the Beagle Group and F.G Miles was a director of Beagle-Miles, with a formal takeover being completed in February 1961. Initially the three parts of the company operated independently, the Rearsby factory as Beagle-Auster Limited and the Shoreham factory as Beagle-Miles Limited. This did not last long and the three parts of the company were merged as Beagle Aircraft Limited in 1962. The company lacked direction from the start, with poor strategic decisions made based on over-optimistic predictions while projects were delayed and costs spiralled. Masefield had a vision of producing large numbers, possibly between 400 and 1000 aircraft per year, of many different types of light aircraft. At the same time he was wildly optimistic about the ease of producing such numbers, seemingly ignoring the costs involved. The Miles brothers had the view that Masefield was "intent on creating an organisation out of all proportion to what it was trying to achieve". The decision to build the Airedale and Terrier as "interim" aircraft was a costly error; by March 1962 it had cost £511,000 to produce the first 25 Airedales, which sold with difficulty for a basic price of £5,500 each, with a predicted break-even figure of over 600 sales. In 1962 a net loss of £2.1 million was recorded and Pressed Steel had already given thought to pulling out. In July 1963, George Miles resigned, saying "Manufacturing plans and policies have been wild and chaotic. The present situation ... is obviously hopelessly uneconomic." In 1965 the parent company Pressed Steel was acquired by the British Motor Corporation, who reviewed the involvement in light aircraft manufacturing and requested financial help from the British Government. The British government bought Beagle in December 1966 and provided the help needed. When the company needed more financial help in 1969, the Government put the company into
receivership In law, receivership is a situation in which an institution or enterprise is held by a receiver—a person "placed in the custodial responsibility for the property of others, including tangible and intangible assets and rights"—especially in c ...
amidst much Parliamentary recrimination. The Receiver tried to revive and sell the company (now renamed Beagle Aircraft (1969) Limited), but failed and the company assets were disposed of by the liquidator.


Aircraft

The Beagle 206 was a twin piston-engined design evolved from the Bristol 220 project which Peter Masefield had tried to persuade Bristol Aircraft to make. When he left Bristols he bought the design rights to form the foundation of Beagle as it was expected that up to 120 would be ordered by the RAF.Wenham 2015, p. 161. However, the RAF specification changed continually as did the required number of aircraft and the ultimate order was only for 20 aircraft at the unit price that Beagle had given for 30 aircraft. Owing to the change in the RAF specification, the first Beagle 206 (designed by the Miles team in 82,500 man-hours) was then redesigned and "productionised" by the Beagle design office at Shoreham (in an additional 150,000 man-hours of design). The Beagle 206 was only made in small numbers from 1961 to 1969; this was to have been the company's flagship aircraft but sales were always difficult - 79 were flown and several were unsold at the time of liquidation. The first aircraft made by Beagle were developed from Auster designs: the Airedale, Terrier and D5/180 Husky. The Airedale and Terrier were intended as stop-gap designs to keep production shops busy and to be sold whilst more modern designs were developedWenham 2015, p. 66. However, Beagle lost almost £500,000 on the Airedale, due to its old design, poor performance and high cost; the Terrier was also not profitable, due to the extensive number of man-hours in conversionHitchman 2006, p. 64. and, again, the age of the design. The Beagle Husky was made in very small numbers and each was sold at a significant loss, while the Beagle Mark Eleven project was another expensive sideline.Wenham 2015, pp. 32–34. In 1968, the Auster assets (including all spares, jigs and partly completed airframes) were sold to Hants and Sussex Aviation in order to make room for the production of the Pup. In 1967 the single-engined
Beagle Pup The Beagle B.121 Pup is a 1960s British 2–4 seat single-engined training and touring aircraft built by Beagle Aircraft Limited at Shoreham Airport and Rearsby Aerodrome. Design The Pup was designed as a single-engined all-metal two-seat ae ...
made its first flight and was made and sold in greater numbers until the company's bankruptcy. The receiver sold a number of incomplete Pup aircraft which were then completed by other companies. At the time of the company's bankruptcy in 1969, the military
Bulldog The Bulldog is a British breed of dog of mastiff type. It may also be known as the English Bulldog or British Bulldog. It is of medium size, a muscular, hefty dog with a wrinkled face and a distinctive pushed-in nose.Scottish Aviation Scottish Aviation Limited was an aircraft manufacturer based at Prestwick, Scotland. History The company was founded in 1935. Originally a flying school operator, the company took on maintenance work in 1938. During the Second World War, Scott ...
at their Prestwick factory following the demise of the Beagle Aircraft company. At the turn of the 21st Century, many Bulldogs were being sold by air forces to civilian operators, in much the same way that Austers were transferred from Army or RAF squadrons during the 1940s and 1950s. *
Beagle Husky The Beagle Husky (originally, the Auster D.5 and initially designated the Auster J/1Y) was a three-seat British light aircraft built in the 1960s which originated from a Portuguese Air Force requirement for a liaison/training aircraft,Wenham 2 ...
- single-engined high-winged monoplane, a re-designated Auster D5/180 * Beagle A.61 Terrier – single-engined high-winged monoplane * Beagle A.109 Airedale – single-engined high-winged monoplane * Beagle Mark Eleven - re-engined Auster AOP.9 single-engined high-winged monoplane * Beagle B.206 – twin-engined low-winged light transport aircraft * Beagle B.206R Basset – military version of the B.206 * Beagle M.218 – twin-engined light transport aircraft * Beagle B.121 Pup – single-engined low-winged light aircraft * Beagle B.125 Bulldog – military version of the Pup, built by Scottish Aviation after the company was liquidated. Beagle also collaborated with
Ken Wallis Wing Commander Kenneth Horatio Wallis (26 April 1916 – 1 September 2013) was a British aviator, engineer, and inventor. During the Second World War, Wallis served in the Royal Air Force and flew 28 bomber missions over Germany; after the war ...
in building five Wallis WA-116 autogyros at Shoreham in 1962 for evaluation by the British Army. This collaboration ended when the British Army chose the
Westland Sioux The Bell H-13 Sioux is an American single-engine light helicopter built by Bell Helicopter and manufactured by Westland Aircraft under license for the British military as the Sioux AH.1 and HT.2. Development In 1947, the United States Army ...
for this role. Image:beagle pup g-axia arp.jpg, Beagle Pup, built 1969 Image:beagle.airedale.a109.g-arnp.arp.jpg, Beagle Airedale, built 1961 Image:bulldog g-bhzr arp.jpg,
Scottish Aviation Scottish Aviation Limited was an aircraft manufacturer based at Prestwick, Scotland. History The company was founded in 1935. Originally a flying school operator, the company took on maintenance work in 1938. During the Second World War, Scott ...
Bulldog, built 1980 Image:Beagle-N477EC.jpg, Beagle B.206, built 1969


See also

*
Aerospace industry in the United Kingdom The aerospace industry of the United Kingdom is the second-largest national aerospace industry in the world (after the United States) and the largest in Europe by turnover, with a global market share of 17% in 2019. In 2020, the industry employe ...


References


Notes


Bibliography

* Jackson, A.J. ''British Civil Aircraft since 1919 (Volume 1)''. London, Putnam, 1974. * Wenham, Tom. ''False Dawn - The Beagle Aircraft Story''. Air-Britain Publishing, 2015. * Hitchman, Ambrose & Preston, Mike. ''The History of the Auster Aeroplane (Revised 3rd Ed.)''. International Auster Club Heritage Group, 2006.


External links


Beagle
– British Aircraft Directory {{Authority control British companies established in 1960 Companies based in Leicestershire Companies based in West Sussex Defunct aircraft manufacturers of the United Kingdom 1960 establishments in England Science and technology in Leicestershire Science and technology in West Sussex Shoreham-by-Sea