Hawker-Siddeley

Hawker Siddeley was a group of UK aircraft manufacturing companies formed as a result of the merger of Hawker Aircraft with Armstrong-Siddeley. The resulting company combined the legacies of several well-known British aircraft manufacturers. It emerged as one of only two major manufacturers in the 1960s, and was eventually merged into British Aerospace (BAe) in 1977. BAe sold their corporate jet product line to Raytheon in 1993, and today Raytheon manufactures a line of Hawker business jets in the United States.

Hawker Engineering

Hawker Siddeley had its roots in the aftermath of the First World War following restructuring/bankruptcy of the Sopwith Aviation Company. The Sopwith Aviation Company test pilot Harry Hawker and three others (including Thomas Sopwith), bought the assets of the Sopwith Aviation Company and formed H.G. Hawker Engineering late in 1920.

Between the wars Hawker produced a successful line of bombers and fighters for the Royal Air Force. These included the Hawker Hind and the Hawker Hart, which became the most produced UK airplane in the years before the Second World War.

Hawker Aircraft Ltd

Renamed in 1933 to Hawker Aircraft Limited, the company took advantage of the Great Depression and the company's strong financial position to purchase Gloster Aircraft in 1934. The next year it formed an association with a series of UK aviation companies including , Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft, Armstrong Siddeley Motors, A.V. Roe and Air Training Services. This group of companies was renamed Hawker-Siddeley in 1935.

This was the form of the company during the Second World War when it produced many aircraft in many designs including the famous Hawker Hurricane fighter plane that, along with the Supermarine Spitfire, was instrumental in winning the Battle of Britain. (Hawker Hurricanes in service outnumbered all other British fighters combined, shooting down 55 percent of all enemy aircraft destroyed).

Almost every Hawker Aircraft design of the Second World War was a success (even if not initially) mainly attributable to the design genius of Sidney Camm (later Sir Sidney) and the team he worked with.

Designs included:

Hawker Siddeley group designs in the Hawker-Siddeley stable included the Gloster Meteor, the first Allied jet fighter.

After the war Hawker Aircraft produced one of the outstanding post war jet aircraft the Hawker Hunter, which set a world speed record of 728mph in 1953.

Hawker Siddeley Group

In the late 1950s the government decided that with the decreasing number of aircraft contracts being offered, it was better to merge the existing companies, of which there were about 15 surviving at this point, into several much larger firms. Out of this decision came the "order" that all future contracts being offered had to include agreements to merge companies.

Hawker and de Havilland merged in 1959, followed by Blackburn Aircraft, Avro (along with Avro Canada) and Whitworth (already part of Hawker), Folland and Gloster over the next year, forming the Hawker Siddeley Group. In 1961 the group bought Hands (Letchworth) Limited particularly for its specialist Hands Trailers division. Meanwhile a similar set of mergers in aircraft production led to the British Aircraft Corporation (BAC) and Westland (covering helicopters) with egnine manufactuer down to two Bristol-Siddeley and Rolls-Royce - the latter to take over the other in mid 1960s. In 1973 HS acquired South Wales Switchgear, which retained the HS name after 1992.

In this period the company developed the first operational, and by far the most successful VTOL jet aircraft, the Hawker Siddeley Harrier. This aircraft remained in production into the 1990s and service beyond the millennium.

Amongst other aircraft built by the Hawker-Siddeley Group were:

Hawker-Siddeley Canada Inc, was a heavy rail manufacturer based in Mississauga and plant in Thunder Bay, Ontario. The rights to the rail operations were sold to Bombardier Transportation. Hawker-Siddeley Canada also manufactured aircraft engines under Avro Canada's Orenda Engines subsidiary. The second jet transport aircraft of the world to fly was also made by the Avro-Canada C-102, this was made on 10 August 1949, just two weeks after that of the De Havilland Comet

End of Hawker

On April 29, 1977, as a result of the Aircraft and Shipbuilding Industries Act, the Hawker-Siddeley Group was nationalised and merged with the BAC and Scottish Aviation to form BAe.

Several Hawker entities were later spun-off or sold by BAe, including:

In 1980, Hawker Pacific Aerospace was formed.
In 1991, the Hawker Siddeley Group Public Limited Company was acquired by BTR Aerospace Group.
In 1993, British Aerospace Corporate Jets Ltd was acquired by Raytheon, which continues to manufacture a line of Hawker corporate jets.

Hawker and Hawker Siddeley Aircraft

As Hawker

Hawker Woodcock 1923
Hawker Duiker 1923 prototype
Hawker Cygnet 1924
Hawker Hedgehog1924 prototype
Hawker Horsley 1925
Hawker Heron 1925
Hawker Hornbill 1925
Hawker Danecock 1925
Hawker Harrier 1927 prototype
Hawker Hawfinch 1927
Hawker Hart 1928
Hawker F.20/27 1928 prototype
Hawker Hoopoe 1928
Hawker Tomtit 1928
Hawker Hornet 1929
Hawker Osprey 1929
Hawker Nimrod 1930
Hawker Fury 1931
Hawker Audax 1931
Hawker Demon 1933
Hawker P.V.3 1934 prototype
Hawker Hardy 1934
Hawker Hind 1934
Hawker P.V.4 1934 prototype
Hawker Hartbees 1935
Hawker Hurricane 1935
Hawker Hector 1936
Hawker Henley 1937
Hawker Hotspur 1938
Hawker Tornado 1939
Hawker Typhoon 1940
Hawker Tempest 1942
Hawker Sea Fury 1944
Hawker Sea Hawk 1947
Hawker P.1052 1948 Prototype
Hawker P.1081 1950 Prototype
Hawker P.1072 1950 Prototype
Hawker Hunter 1951
Hawker P.1127 1960 Prototype

As Hawker-Siddeley

Hawker Siddeley Kestrel
Hawker Siddeley Harrier
Hawker Siddeley P.1154 - supersonic version of the Harrier
Hawker-Siddeley Nimrod
Hawker-Siddeley Hawk
Hawker Siddeley Trident
Hawker Siddeley HS125
Hawker Siddeley HS748 (Avro 748)

Hawker Siddeley today

The Hawker Siddeley name was bought retained by one of HS firms, Aberdare Holdings (formerly South Wales Switchgear). The UK based firm was renamed Hawker Siddeley Switchgear in 1992. With their Australian unit Hawker Siddeley Switchgear Australia Pty Ltd, HSS are a makers of medium voltage switchgear.

The name lives on as Hawker Siddeley Switchgear and Hawker Siddeley Power Transformers.

Clients

External links

References

"Hawker Aircraft since 1920" by Francic K Mason - Putnam 1991 ISBN 085177 839 9
"Canadian Aircraft since 1909" by K M Molson & H A Taylor - Putnam 1982 ISBN 0 92002 11 0

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