Slingsby Aviation was a British

aircraft manufacturer An aerospace manufacturer is a company or individual involved in the various aspects of designing, building, testing, selling, and maintaining aircraft, aircraft parts, missiles, rockets, or spacecraft. Aerospace is a high technology industry. ...

based in

Kirkbymoorside Kirkbymoorside () is a market town and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. It is north of York; midway between Pickering and Helmsley, and on the edge of the North York Moors National Park. The parish had a population of 3,040 in the 20 ...

, North Yorkshire, England. The company was founded to design and build gliders and

sailplanes A glider or sailplane is a type of glider aircraft used in the leisure activity and sport of gliding (also called soaring). This unpowered aircraft can use naturally occurring currents of rising air in the atmosphere to gain altitude. Sailpla ...

. From the early 1930s to around 1970 it built over 50% of all British club gliders and had success at national and international level competitions. It then produced some powered aircraft, notably the composite built Firefly trainer, before becoming a producer of specialised composite materials and components. The business is now known as Marshall Advanced Composites and produces composite parts for ships, submarines and aircraft. It is a subsidiary of

Marshall of Cambridge Marshall Group (registered as Marshall of Cambridge (Holdings) Ltd,) is a British company headquartered in Cambridge, United Kingdom. Subsidiaries include Marshall Aerospace, an aircraft maintenance, modification, and design company located at ...

History

The business was founded in

Scarborough Scarborough or Scarboro may refer to: People * Scarborough (surname) * Earl of Scarbrough Places Australia * Scarborough, Western Australia, suburb of Perth * Scarborough, New South Wales, suburb of Wollongong * Scarborough, Queensland, sub ...

by Frederick Nicholas Slingsby, an RAF pilot in World War I. In 1920 he bought a partnership in a woodworking and furniture factory in Queen Street, Scarborough. In 1930 Slingsby was one of the founders of the Scarborough Gliding Club. After repairing some of the club's gliders, Slingsby's business built its first aircraft, a German designed RRG Falke which flew in 1931. By late 1933 Slingsby was advertising training gliders for sale. In 1934, encouraged by a local landowner, the business moved to Kirkbymoorside, some 30 miles from Scarborough, operating as Slingsby, Russell & Brown Ltd. As demand for gliders built up, a new factory was needed and built in Welburn, just outside Kirkbymoorside. This opened in July 1939, when Slingsby Sailplanes Ltd was founded. The best selling Slingsby glider in the pre-World War II period was the

Primary Primary or primaries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels * Primary (band), from Australia * Primary (musician), hip hop musician and record producer from South Korea * Primary Music, Israeli record label Work ...

. During the war Slingsby built parts for other company's aircraft as well as their own

military glider Military gliders (an offshoot of common gliders) have been used by the militaries of various countries for carrying troops ( glider infantry) and heavy equipment to a combat zone, mainly during the Second World War. These engineless aircraft wer ...

, the

Slingsby Hengist The Slingsby Hengist was a British military glider designed and built by Slingsby Sailplanes Ltd. Like other British troop carrying gliders in the Second World War, it was named after military figures whose name began with H, in this case the ...

, though the latter did not see action. Towards the end of the war and afterwards the company produced large numbers of training gliders for the

Air Training Corps The Air Training Corps (ATC) is a British Youth organisations in the United Kingdom, volunteer youth organisation; aligned to, and fostering the knowledge and learning of military values, primarily focusing on military aviation. Part of the ...

(ATC). After the war Slingsby continued to make increasingly refined gliders for civilian use in clubs and competitions. Their greatest success was with the

Sky The sky is an unobstructed view upward from the planetary surface, surface of the Earth. It includes the atmosphere of Earth, atmosphere and outer space. It may also be considered a place between the ground and outer space, thus distinct from ...

at the 1952

World Gliding Championships The World Gliding Championships (WGC) is a gliding competitions, gliding competition held roughly every two years by the FAI Gliding Commission. The dates are not always exactly two years apart, often because the contests are always held in the sum ...

, which finished in first, third and fourth place. The later Slingsby Skylark series was their post war best seller. Slingsby began to move toward

glass reinforced plastic Fiberglass (American English) or fibreglass (Commonwealth English) is a common type of fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened into a sheet called a chopped strand mat, or woven into glass cl ...

(GRP) and metal construction methods, but the company, trading as Slingsby Aircraft Ltd since 1967, went into liquidation in July 1969 following a disastrous fire in the previous November. After this Slingsby became part of the

Vickers Vickers was a British engineering company that existed from 1828 until 1999. It was formed in Sheffield as a steel foundry by Edward Vickers and his father-in-law, and soon became famous for casting church bells. The company went public in 18 ...

Group in November 1969, initially as Vickers-Slingsby Sailplanes Ltd, then reverting to the old name of Slingsby Sailplanes Ltd, and original design declined, though they built versions of other aircraft, both powered and unpowered. Slingsby’s last glider, which was also their last original design, was the GRP Slingsby T.65 Vega. This ceased production in 1982, by which time high performance sailplane design had moved away from the UK. During the upheavals in the British aerospace and marine sector the company became Slingsby Engineering, part of the public/private holding company British Underwater Engineering (UBE). In July 1982 Slingsby Aviation was set up by, and as part, of Slingsby Engineering. Slingsby Aviation passed from UBE to ML holdings in 1993, then to

Cobham plc Cobham Limited is a British aerospace manufacturing company based in Bournemouth, England. Cobham was originally founded by Sir Alan Cobham as Flight Refuelling Limited (FRL) in 1934. During 1939, British airline Imperial Airways performed ...

in December 1995. Slingsby's last aircraft was the

T-67 Firefly The Slingsby T67 Firefly, originally produced as the Fournier RF-6, is a two-seat aerobatic training aircraft, built by Slingsby Aviation in Kirkbymoorside, Yorkshire, England. It has been used as a trainer aircraft by several armed forces, a ...

, a two-seater military training aircraft, originally a

René Fournier René Fournier (18 December 1932 – 26 August 2023) was a French professional racing cyclist. He rode in three editions of the Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage cycle sport, bicycle race held primarily ...

design but structurally reworked by Slingsby into a wholly composite machine. At this time Slingsby Aviation employed around 130 people on its 12,220 square metre (131,000 square feet) site. The company had its own airfield at Kirkbymoorside with a 750-metre reinforced grass runway. Slingsby Aviation’s SAH 2200 hovercraft has operated in such varied regions as the Arctic Circle and Africa. Two are seen in the

James Bond The ''James Bond'' franchise focuses on James Bond (literary character), the titular character, a fictional Secret Intelligence Service, British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels ...

film, ''

Die Another Day ''Die Another Day'' is a 2002 spy film and the twentieth film in the ''James Bond'' series produced by Eon Productions. It was directed by Lee Tamahori, produced by Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli, and written by Neal Purvis and Rober ...

''. On 10 August 2006 the name of the company was changed to Slingsby Advanced Composites. Since then the company was owned by three individuals and was no longer a part of Cobham plc. Marshall Slingsby Logo 2013

On 8 January 2010 the UK company

Marshall Aerospace Marshall Group (registered as Marshall of Cambridge (Holdings) Ltd,) is a British company headquartered in Cambridge, United Kingdom. Subsidiaries include Marshall Aerospace, an aircraft maintenance, modification, and design company located a ...

bought Slingsby Advanced Composites Ltd which currently trades as Marshall Slingsby Advanced Composites. In 2020, Marshall Slingsby Advanced Composites won the Aerospace Company of the Year in the Corporate Live Wire North England Prestige Awards.

Aircraft

Baynes Bat The Baynes Bat (or sometimes Slingsby-Baynes Bat) was an experimental glider of the Second World War, designed by L. E. Baynes. It was used to test the tailless design that he had suggested as a means to convert tanks into temporary gliders ...

– experimental glider 1943 *

Buxton Hjordis The Buxton Hjordis was a single-seat sailplane built by Slingsby Sailplanes Ltd. in the UK to a design by G.M Buxton. Only one was constructed and was flown by Philip Wills at competitions in Europe between 1935-7. Development The sole Bu ...

* CAMCO IIA – not completed * Slingsby T.1 Falcon 1 – single seat sport glider 1931 * Slingsby T.2 Falcon 2 * Slingsby T.3 Primary (Dagling) * Slingsby T.4 Falcon 3 * Slingsby T.5 Grunau Baby * Slingsby T.6 Kirby Kite * Slingsby T.7 Kirby Cadet (Cadet TX.1) *

Slingsby T.8 Kirby Tutor The Slingsby T.8 Kirby Tutor was a single-seat sport glider produced from 1937, by Fred Slingsby in Kirbymoorside, Yorkshire. Design and development The T.8 Kirby Tutor (a.k.a. Taper-wing Kadet) came about at the request of the Midland Glidin ...

(Cadet TX.2) *

Slingsby T.9 King Kite The Slingsby T.9 King Kite is a British glider designed and built by Slingsby that first flew in 1937. Design and development ISTUS (international commission for the study of motorless flight) launched a campaign for gliding's inclusion in th ...

* Slingsby T.12 Kirby Gull 1 * Slingsby T.13 Petrel * Slingsby T.14 Gull 2 *

Slingsby T.15 Gull 3 The Slingsby T.12 Gull was a British single-seat glider designed and built by Slingsby Aviation, Slingsby Sailplanes and first flown in 1938. Development In the late 1930s the gliding movement in the UK did not receive the support from the g ...

*Slingsby T.17 – military transport glider project to meet Air Ministry Specification 10/40, not built. * Slingsby T.18 Hengist – military glider 1942 * Slingsby T.19 (target glider) * Slingsby T.20 *

Slingsby T.21 The Slingsby T.21 is an open-cockpit, side-by-side two-seat Glider (sailplane), glider, built by Slingsby Aviation, Slingsby Sailplanes Ltd and first flown in 1944. It was widely used by the Royal Air Force, Sri Lanka Air Force and by civilian ...

(Sedbergh TX.1) * Slingsby T.23 Kite 1A *

Slingsby T.24 Falcon 4 The Slingsby T.24 Falcon 4 was a two-seat training Glider aircraft, glider designed in the UK just after World War II for Air Training Corps, ATC use. It was judged too expensive for production and only three were completed. Development Desp ...

* Slingsby T.25 Gull 4 * Slingsby T.26 Kite 2 * Slingsby T.29A/B Motor Tutor * Slingsby T.30 Prefect * Slingsby T.31 Tandem Tutor (Cadet TX.3) * Slingsby T.34 Sky * Slingsby T.35 Austral * Slingsby T.37 Skylark 1 *

Slingsby T.38 Grasshopper The Slingsby T.38 Grasshopper is a British primary training glider built by Slingsby Sailplanes for the Royal Air Force.Hardy 1982, p. 115. Development The design is based on the pre-World War II German SG 38 Schulgleiter, modified to use t ...

TX.1 * Slingsby T.41 Skylark 2 * Slingsby T.42 Eagle * Slingsby T.43 Skylark 3 * Slingsby T.45 Swallow * Slingsby T.46 (a.k.a. T.21C) * Slingsby T.49 Capstan * Slingsby T.50 Skylark 4 * Slingsby T.51 Dart * Slingsby T.53 * Slingbsy T.56 S.E.5A replica Currie Wot based * Slingsby T.57 Sopwith Camel replica * Slingsby T.58 Rumpler C.IV replica * Slingsby HP-14C – redesign of Schreder HP-14 * Slingsby T.59 Kestrel * Slingsby T.61 Falke (Venture T.1/T.2) * Slingsby T.65 Vega * Slingsby T.66 Nipper Mk 3 * Slingsby T.67 Firefly

References

* *''Slingsby Sailplanes'', by Martin Simons, Airlife Publishing 1996 : drawings, descriptions and many photographs of all Slingsby gliders. *Taylor, Michael J.H. . ''Jane's Encyclopedia of Aviation''. Studio Editions. London. 1989. *Coates, Andrew. "Jane's World Sailplanes & Motor Gliders". 2nd edition. London, Jane's. 1980. *Simons, Martin. "Sailplanes 1920–1945". 2nd revised edition. EQIP Werbung und Verlag G.m.b.H.. Königswinter. 2006. *Simons, Martin. "Sailplanes 1945–1965". 2nd revised edition. EQIP Werbung und Verlag G.m.b.H.. Königswinter. 2006. *Simons, Martin. "Sailplanes 1965–2000". 2nd revised edition. EQIP Werbung und Verlag G.m.b.H.. Königswinter. 2005.

External links

Marshall Advanced Composites website
{{Slingsby aircraft Aircraft manufacturers of England Companies based in North Yorkshire Glider manufacturers 1931 establishments in England Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1931 Vickers Kirkbymoorside