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 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.
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 Typhoon*
Hawker Tempest*
Hawker Fury*
Hawker Sea FuryHawker 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.
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, one of the largest private engineering companies in England created by
Howard George Hands MC after the First World War. 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 Trident*
Hawker Siddeley HS125*
Hawker Siddeley HS748Hawker-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 CometOn 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.
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
PrototypeAs 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)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.
*
Caltrain*
GO Transit*
Toronto Transit Commission*
Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority*
Port Authority Trans-Hudson*
Société de transport de Montréal*
US Centiennal of Flight Commission - Hawker Siddeley*
Hawker Siddeley* "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
