Fairey Aviation Company

The Fairey Aviation Company Limited was a British aircraft manufacturer of the first half of the 20th century based in Hayes in Middlesex and Heaton Chapel and RAF Ringway in Cheshire. Notable for the design of a number of important military aircraft, including the Fairey III family, the Swordfish, Firefly, and Gannet, it had a strong presence in the supply of naval aircraft, and also built bombers for the RAF.

After World War II the company diversified into mechanical engineering and boat-building. The aircraft manufacturing arm was taken over by Westland Aircraft in 1960. Following a series of mergers and takeovers, the principal successor businesses to the company now trade as FBM Babcock Marine Ltd, Spectris plc, and WFEL (formerly Williams Fairey Engineering Limited), the latter manufacturing portable bridges.

History

Founded in 1915 by Charles Richard Fairey (later Sir Richard Fairey) and Belgian engineer Ernest Oscar Tips on their departure from Short Brothers, the company first built under licence or as subcontractor aircraft designed by other manufacturers. The first aircraft designed and built by the Fairey Aviation specifically for use on an aircraft carrier was the Fairey Campania a patrol seaplane that first flew in February 1917. In the third report of the Royal Commission on Awards to Inventors, reported in ''Flight'' magazine of 15 January 1925, aviation figures prominently. C. R. Fairey and the Fairey Aviation Co. Ltd, was awarded £4,000 for work on the Hamble Baby seaplane.

Fairey subsequently designed many aircraft types and, after World War II, missiles.

The Propeller Division (Fairey-Reed Airscrews) was located at the Hayes factory, and used designs based on the patents of Sylvanus Albert Reed. C. R. Fairey first encountered Reed's products in the mid-1920s when investigating the possibilities of the Curtiss D-12 engine. The Curtiss company also manufactured propellers designed by Reed. Another example of utilising the talents of independent designers was the use of flaps, designed by Robert Talbot Youngman ( Fairey-Youngman flaps) which gave many of the Fairey aircraft and those of other manufacturers improved manoeuvrability.

Aircraft production was primarily at the factory in North Hyde Road, Hayes (Middlesex), with flight testing carried out at Northolt Aerodrome (1917–1929), Great West Aerodrome (1930–1944), Heston Airport (1944–1947), and finally at White Waltham (1947–1964). Losing the Great West Aerodrome in 1944 by requisition by the Air Ministry to build London Heathrow Airport, with no compensation until 1964, caused a severe financial shock which may have hastened the company's end.

One notable Hayes-built aircraft type during the late 1930s and World War II was the Swordfish. In 1957, the prototype Fairey Rotodyne and Westland Scout were built at Hayes in the 1960s.

Receipt of large UK military contracts in the mid-1930s necessitated acquisition of a large factory in Heaton Chapel Stockport in 1935 that had been used as the National Aircraft Factory No. 2 during World War I. Flight test facilities were built at Manchester's Ringway Airport, the first phase opening in June 1937. A few Hendon monoplane bombers built at Stockport were flown from Manchester's Barton Aerodrome in 1936. Quantity production of Battle light bombers at Stockport/Ringway commenced in mid 1937. Large numbers of Fulmar fighters and Barracuda dive-bombers followed during World War II. Fairey's also built 498 Bristol Beaufighter aircraft and over 660 Handley Page Halifax bombers in their northern facilities. Postwar, Firefly and Gannet naval aircraft were supplemented by sub-contracts from de Havilland for Vampire and Venom jet fighters. Aircraft production and modification at Stockport and Ringway ceased in 1960.

On 13 March 1959 ''Flight'' reported that Fairey Aviation Ltd was to be reorganised following a proposal to concentrate aircraft and allied manufacturing activities in the United Kingdom into a new wholly owned subsidiary called the Fairey Aviation Co. Ltd. The Board felt that the change, taking effect on 1 April 1959, would enable the Rotodyne and other aircraft work to be handled by a concern concentrating on aviation. It is proposed to change the company's name to the Fairey Co. Ltd, and to concentrate general engineering activities in the Stockport Aviation Co. Ltd, whose name would become Fairey Engineering Ltd. Under these changes, the Fairey Co. would become a holding company, with control of policy and finance throughout the group.

The government in the late 1950s was determined to rationalise the UK's aero industry. The Ministry of Defence saw the future of helicopters as being best met by a single manufacturer. The merger of Fairey's aviation interests with Westland Aircraft took place in early 1960 shortly after Westland had acquired the Saunders-Roe group and the helicopter division of the Bristol Aeroplane Company. Westland Aircraft and the Fairey Company announced that they had reached agreement for the sale by Fairey to Westland of the issued share capital of Fairey Aviation, which operated all Fairey's UK aviation interests. Westland acquired all Fairey's aircraft manufacturing business (including the Gannet AEW.3) and Fairey's 10% investment in the Aircraft Manufacturing Company (Airco) Fairey's workforce employed on manufacture of the outer wings of the Airco D.H.121. (later to be the HS 121 Trident) was transferred to Westland. Fairey received 2,000,000 Westland shares of 5 shillings each and a cash payment of approximately £1.4m. The sale did not include Fairey Air Surveys or the works at Heston which was home to the weapon division, which had a contract for research into advanced anti-tank missile systems. Fairey's remaining net worth was approximately £9.5m.

The collapse of the Fairey Group

In 1977 the Fairey Group went into receivership and was effectively nationalised by the Government. Fairey went into liquidation when it introduced a Britten-Norman Islander production line into its subsidiary company, Avions Fairey, and overproduced the plane and subsequently faced redundancy payments of about £16 million in Belgium. The companies involved were as follows:
* Fairey Hydraulics Ltd, Heston, Hydraulic power controls and filters for aircraft; sold in 1999 to a management buyout, the name changed to Claverham Ltd, bought in 2001 by Hamilton Sundstrand.
* Fairey Engineering Ltd, Stockport, General, and nuclear engineering;
* Fairey Nuclear Ltd, Heston, Nuclear components and light engineering; see also Dungeness nuclear power station
* Fairey Industrial Products Ltd, Heston, Management company;
* Fairey Filtration Ltd, Heston, Industrial filters;
* Fairey Winches Ltd, Tavistock, Vehicle overdrives, winches, and hubs;
* Jerguson Tress Gauge and Valve Co Ltd, Newcastle, Liquid Level indicators;
* The Tress Engineering Co Ltd, Newcastle, Petrochemical valves;
* Fairey Marine Holdings Ltd, Hamble, Management company;
* Fairey Marine (East Cowes) Ltd, East Cowes, Ship, and boat building;
* Fairey Exhibitions Ltd, Hamble, Exhibition stand contractors;
* Fairey Marine Ltd, Hamble, Boatbuilding and repair;
* Fairey Yacht Harbours Ltd, Hamble, Boat handling, berthing, and storage;
* Fairey Surveys Ltd, Maidenhead, Aerial and geophysical survey and mapping;
* Fairey Surveys (Scotland) Ltd, Livingston, Aerial and geophysical survey and mapping;
* Fairey Developments Ltd, Heston, Management company:

The Fairey Britten-Norman Aircraft Company was taken over by Pilatus, then a subsidiary of the Oerlikon group in Switzerland.

The rescue action was taken by the Government under section 8 of the Industry Act 1972 acquiring from the official receiver of the Fairey Company Ltd the entire share capital for £201,163,000. The companies were managed by the National Enterprise Board (NEB). In 1980 The Fairey Group was purchased by Doulton & Company Limited (part of S Pearson & Son) from the NEB. At the time, Pearson's interests in manufacturing were concentrated in the Doulton fine china business. The engineering interests were strengthened in 1980 by the acquisition of the high technology businesses of Fairey, and their merging with Pearson's other engineering interests in 1982. However, these businesses were disposed of in 1986 as part of Pearson wishing to concentrate on core activities; acquired by Williams Holdings they became Williams Fairey Engineering Ltd and then WFEL Ltd.

Other parts of the combined Fairey – Doulton group saw a management buy-out from Pearson, listing on the London Stock Exchange in 1988. During the 1990s this company concentrated on expanding its electronics business, acquiring a number of companies, and disposing of the electrical insulator and hydraulic actuator businesses. In 1997, the company acquired Burnfield, of which Malvern Instruments was the most significant company. Servomex plc was acquired in 1999. In July 2000, the acquisition of the four instrumentation and controls businesses of Spectris AG of Germany for £171m was the largest ever made by the company and marked an important strategic addition to the company's instrumentation and controls business. The reshaping of the group was marked with the change of name from Fairey Group to Spectris plc in May 2001.

Subsidiary companies

Avions Fairey

On 27 August 1931, Avions Fairey SA was founded by Fairey engineer Ernest Oscar Tips. Fairey aircraft had impressed the Belgian authorities and a subsidiary, Avions Fairey was established to produce Fairey aircraft in Belgium
The company staff left Belgium ahead of the German invasion of the Low Countries and returned after the war to build aircraft under licence for the Belgian Air Force. With Fairey's financial troubles in the later 1970s, the Belgian government bought Avions Fairey to preserve its involvement in the Belgian F-16 project. See also Tipsy Nipper.

Fairey Aviation of Canada

Formed in 1948 the Fairey Aviation Company of Canada Limited and grew from a six-man operation to a major enterprise employing around a thousand people. In March 1949, the company undertook repair and overhaul work for the Royal Canadian Navy on the Supermarine Seafire and the Fairey Firefly and later the Hawker Sea Fury and also undertook modification work on the Grumman Avenger. The Avro Lancaster conversion programme created the need for plant expansion. The Lancaster was followed in service by the Lockheed Neptune and again the company undertook a share of the repair overhaul and service of these aircraft. The company was engaged in the modification and overhaul of the McDonnell Banshee.

Fairey of Canada also developed a component and instrument design and manufacturing organisation. The company began manufacture of Hydro Booster Units which control flight surfaces hydraulically rather than manually. Other flight controls were designed and manufactured for the Avro CF-100. The Canadair Argus used Fairey-designed hydraulic actuators. The company also produced the "Bear Trap" helicopter /ship handling system for the Royal Canadian Navy. In the early 1960s the company undertook the conversion of the Martin Mars flying boats to water-bearing firefighters.

Drawing on the parent company's expertise in the design of hydraulic equipment led to local manufacturer of the Fairey Microfilter, which had applications in industries beyond aviation. Yet another Fairey designed and manufactured component was the Safety Ohmmeter. This instrument had many applications in missiles, mining, quarrying and similar fields. The company was appointed agent for RFD Inflatable Marine Survival Equipment. This agency included sales, service inspection and repair of inflatable liferafts.

The West Coast Branch of the Fairey Aviation Company of Canada Limited was formed in 1955 at Sidney, Vancouver Island. The plant was located at Patricia Bay Airport. This facility handled mainly repair, overhaul and modification of military and civil aircraft including the conversion of ex-military Avenger aircraft to commercial cropdusting roles. Additionally, the company diversified into designing and manufacturing items of hospital equipment.

Following the failure of the UK parent, Fairey Canada was acquired by IMP Group International.

Fairey Aviation Company of Australasia

The Australian branch of Fairey Aviation was formed in 1948 as Fairey-Clyde Aviation Co Pty. Ltd, a joint venture with Clyde Engineering and incorporated the aircraft division of CEC. The name was changed in November 1951. Based in Bankstown, Sydney, the factory overhauled aircraft for the Royal Australian Air Force and Royal Australian Navy, converted RAN Firefly AS.5s to Trainer Mark 5 standard. The Special Projects Division built the Jindivik, Meteor, and Canberra drones at Woomera missile test range. Fairey Australasia was the first company to be established at the Weapons Research Establishment (WRE). This was in 1949 when the firm was involved in supporting research trials of the scale model of the Fairey vertical-take-off aircraft. Shortly afterwards the company expanded to manufacture the RTV.l research rockets that were fired in Australia. From this developed a design and production factory that specialised in the manufacture of airborne and ground equipment for target aircraft and missile fields including the Tonic towed target, which can be carried and streamed by a Jindivik 3A.

In 1957 a miniature camera by the name of WRECISS (Weapons Research Establishment camera interception single-shot) was designed and developed by the WRE at Woomera and manufactured by the Fairey Aviation Co of Australasia, at Salisbury, South Australia. In most surface-to-air missile installations the cameras have been mounted in the nose telemetry bay. Although the firing lever must be replaced after each mission, it is estimated that some 30 per cent of the WRECISS can be re-used without repairs and a substantial further proportion can be repaired relatively cheaply. Its film was Ilford Photo SR101 in the form of 0.93in discs punched from 35 mm strip; weight 801; diameter 1.5in; length 1.25in; field of view 186 deg; exposure time 0.3 millisecond; effective relative aperture, approximately f/8. One hundred and ninety-two cameras were made in the initial production run. In 1988 this company was merged into AWA Defence Industries of Australia.

Aerial Survey

Fairey Air Surveys, Ltd, was initially headquartered at 24 Bruton Street, London W1. and later at Reform Road, Maidenhead, with companies across the world. The aircraft ( Douglas Dakotas) and technical offices were based at White Waltham, Berks, along with a special research laboratory. Here the company undertook the design and development of anti-vibration isolators which were incorporated into camera mountings. Both mapping and geophysical work was undertaken. The UK based aircraft were sent out to work all over the world. The company undertook aerial surveys for local authorities within the UK and for many overseas Governments. Maps were also published under the Fairey-Falcon imprint. Over the years the companies names were changed to reflect Fairey ownership and operated into the late 1970s, later becoming Clyde Surveying Services Ltd. Fairey Surveys was absorbed into what eventually became Blom Aerofilms.
Subsidiary companies were as follows:—
* Fairey Surveys (Scotland), Livingston, Aerial and geophysical survey and mapping.
* Aero Surveys, Vancouver International Airport, Canada. This company was equipped to handle processing and mapping. Aircraft included two Ansons and one P-38. Operated in partnership with Fairchild Aerial Surveys, Inc.
* Air Survey Company of India, Dum Dum Airport, Calcutta. This branch was fully equipped for processing and mapping. Aircraft included a DC-3 and three DH Rapides (known in 1946 as the Indian Air Survey & Transport Limited).
* Air Survey Company of Pakistan, Dunolly Road, Karachi, 2. This was an office only and no aircraft or ground equipment were permanently based there.
* Air Survey Company of Rhodesia, Salisbury, Southern Rhodesia. Fully equipped for processing and mapping. An Anson or a Dove from the UK fleet was available for operations.
Other companies were located in Nigeria, Zambia and the Republic of Ireland.

Engineering

Heaton Chapel

The Fairey factory at Heaton Chapel, Stockport can trace its roots back to when Crossley Bros. Ltd having had by the end of 1916 supplied large numbers of tenders and aero engines to the Royal Flying Corps acquired premises at High Lane, Heaton Chapel to expand production. In 1917, following the Government's decision to build three National Aircraft Factories was taken, Crossley Motors Ltd was formed to manage National Aircraft Factory No.2 as it was known. The factory continued to produce aircraft until November 1918. After the First World War the site switched to vehicle production. The factory was taken over by Willys-Knight and Overland Motors for the manufacture of cars and commercial vehicles and retained by them until 30 November 1934 when it was acquired by Fairey. In 1935 the Fairey company received a substantial order for Hendon night bombers and established production lines at the Heaton Chapel factory. The production facilities at Heaton Chapel were incorporated as the Stockport Aviation Company Limited on 11 February 1936 and the Company took a site at Ringway (now Manchester Airport), where test flights were carried out.

After the end of aircraft production the Heaton Chapel works became Fairey Engineering Ltd and began production of medium and heavy engineering including portable bridges for military and emergency services use, notably the Medium Girder Bridge. Its bridges are in service with the British Army, U.S. Army and many other NATO forces. Fairey Engineering Ltd also made Nuclear Reactor cores and fuelling machines for Dungeness B and Trawsfynydd.

The company became Williams Fairey Engineering in 1986, and was then taken over by the Kidde portion of the American United Technologies Corporation. in 2000, and became now known as WFEL Ltd. In 2006 the Manchester Evening News reported that private equity investors Dunedin Capital Partners backed a management buy-out of WFEL from UTC which employs 160 people at its factory on Crossley Road, Heaton Chapel.

Land Rover hubs and overdrives

In the post-war period, from the late 1950s onwards, Fairey acquired Mayflower Automotive Products, including their factory in Tavistock, Devon, and with it the designs of its products, including winch and free-wheeling front hubs for Land Rover vehicles. By the 1970s Fairey was manufacturing a wide range of winches, covering mechanical, hydraulic and electric drive and capstan/drum configurations. Fairey winches formed the bulk of the manufacturer-approved winch options for Land Rover throughout the 1970s and early 1980s.

In 1975 Fairey designed and manufactured a mechanical overdrive unit for Land Rovers. Vehicles fitted with the unit carried a badge on the rear saying "Overdrive by Fairey", with the Fairey logo (see above).

This branch of products effectively ceased in the early 1980s when new product development at Land Rover and a trend for manufacturers to build accessories in-house forced Fairey to drop out of the sector. The American company Superwinch bought the Tavistock works and continued making Fairey-designed winches for a few years. The site was Superwinch's European base and manufacturing facility until its closure in 2019, when the US parent company ceased operations and the key assets were sold to the Westin company in San Dimas, California.

Aircraft

Fairey aircraft

Year of first flight in brackets
* Fairey Hamble Baby – 1917
* Fairey F.2 – 1917
* Fairey Campania – 1917
* Fairey III – large biplane family, starting late 1917
* Fairey N.9 – 1917
* Fairey Pintail – 1920
* Fairey Flycatcher – biplane fighter, 1922
* Fairey N.4 – 1923
* Fairey Fawn – 1923
* Fairey Firefly I – 1925
* Fairey Fremantle – long range seaplane 1925
* Fairey Ferret – 1925
* Fairey Fox – biplane bomber, 1925
* Fairey Long-range Monoplane – 1928
* Fairey Firefly II – 1929
* Fairey Fleetwing – 1929
* Fairey Seal – biplane torpedo bomber, reconnaissance floatplane, 1930
* Fairey Gordon – 1931
* Fairey G.4/31 – general purpose 1934
* Fairey FC1 commercial airliner
* Fairey S.9/30 – 1934
* Fairey Swordfish – biplane torpedo bomber, 1934
* Fairey Fantôme – single-seat fighter 1935
* Fairey Hendon – monoplane night bomber 1935
* Fairey Battle – light bomber, 1936
* Fairey Seafox – reconnaissance floatplane, 1936
* Fairey P.4/34 – 1937
* Fairey Fulmar – carrier-borne fighter, 1940
* Fairey Albacore – carrier-borne biplane torpedo bomber, 1938
* Fairey Barracuda – carrier-borne dive bomber/torpedo bomber, 1940
* Fairey Firefly – carrier-borne fighter, 1941
* Fairey Spearfish – divebomber, 1945
* Fairey FB-1 Gyrodyne – gyrodyne (autogyro/compound helicopter) 1947
* Fairey Jet Gyrodyne – gyrodyne 1954
* Fairey Primer – trainer 1948
* Fairey Gannet – carrier-borne ASW (later AEW) aircraft, 1949
* Fairey Gannet AEW.3 – carrier-borne AEW aircraft
* Fairey F.D.1 – experimental delta wing 1950
* Fairey F.D.2 – record-setting delta-wing, 1954
* Fairey Ultra-light Helicopter (1955)
* Fairey Rotodyne

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