Industry | Aerospace |
---|---|
Founded | 1933 (as Percival Aircraft Co.) |
Defunct | 1960 |
Fate | Merged to form British Aircraft Corporation |
Headquarters | Luton, Bedfordshire, UK |
Hunting Aircraft was a British aircraft manufacturer that produced light training aircraft and the initial design that would evolve into the BAC 1-11 jet airliner. Founded as Percival Aircraft Company in 1933, the company later moved to Luton, UK. It was eventually taken over by the British Aircraft Corporation (BAC) in 1960.
The company was formed as Percival Aircraft Co. in Gravesend in 1933 by Edgar Percival with Lt. Cdr E.B.W. Leak to produce his own designs. The first aircraft was the Percival Gull - the prototype was built for Percival by the British Aircraft Company and production aircraft by Parnall Aircraft.
The company moved to Gravesend Airport in Kent, where it could build the Gull itself [1] .
Restructured in 1936, it became Percival Aircraft Ltd, and moved to Luton Airport.
The company became part of the Hunting Group in 1944. Percival, who had resigned from the board to serve in the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve during the war sold his remaining interest in the company at that point.
From 1947 some internal components of Britain's Blue Danube atomic bomb were designed and manufactured by Percival Aircraft, in collaboration with the High Explosive Research project at Fort Halstead, Kent. [2]
It changed its name to Hunting Percival Aircraft in 1954 and then to Hunting Aircraft in 1957. [3]
In 1960 the company was taken over by the British Aircraft Corporation (BAC), itself formed earlier that same year through the merger of the Bristol Aeroplane Company, English Electric and Vickers-Armstrongs. [4] BAC later became part of British Aerospace, now BAE Systems.
The first Percival type to be allocated a "P" number was the P.40 Prentice. Previous designs (including unflown designs) were unofficially allocated such a number by the Percival Sales Manager in 1944 when Percival was acquired by the Hunting Group. However, this was "purely a cosmetic exercise" and such numbers have no actual basis in history. [5] [ page needed ]
British Aerospace plc (BAe) was a British aircraft, munitions and defence-systems manufacturer that was formed in 1977. Its head office was at Warwick House in the Farnborough Aerospace Centre in Farnborough, Hampshire. It purchased Marconi Electronic Systems, the defence electronics and naval shipbuilding subsidiary of the General Electric Company, in 1999 to form BAE Systems.
The British Aircraft Corporation (BAC) was a British aircraft manufacturer formed from the government-pressured merger of English Electric Aviation Ltd., Vickers-Armstrongs (Aircraft), the Bristol Aeroplane Company and Hunting Aircraft in 1960. Bristol, English Electric and Vickers became "parents" of BAC with shareholdings of 20%, 40% and 40% respectively. BAC in turn acquired the share capital of their aviation interests and 70% of Hunting Aircraft several months later.
The de Havilland Aircraft Company Limited was a British aviation manufacturer established in late 1920 by Geoffrey de Havilland at Stag Lane Aerodrome Edgware on the outskirts of north London. Operations were later moved to Hatfield in Hertfordshire.
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The BAC Jet Provost is a British jet trainer aircraft that was in use with the Royal Air Force (RAF) from 1955 to 1993. It was originally developed by Hunting Percival from the earlier piston engine-powered Percival Provost basic trainer, and later produced by the British Aircraft Corporation (BAC). In addition to the multiple RAF orders, the Jet Provost, sometimes with light armament, was exported to many air forces worldwide. The design was also further developed into a more heavily armed ground attack variant under the name BAC Strikemaster.
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The Percival Gull was a British single-engined monoplane, first flown in 1932. It was successful as a fast company transport, racing aircraft and long-range record breaker. It was developed into the Vega Gull and the Proctor.
Newark Air Museum is an air museum located on a former Royal Air Force station at Winthorpe, near Newark-on-Trent in Nottinghamshire, England. The museum contains a variety of aircraft.
The Percival Prentice was a basic trainer of the Royal Air Force in the early postwar period. It was a low-wing monoplane with a fixed tailwheel undercarriage. Front seating was in a side-by-side configuration with a rear seat provided.
The Percival P.56 Provost is a basic trainer aircraft that was designed and manufactured by British aviation company Percival.
The Percival Vega Gull was a 1930s British, four-seater touring aircraft built by Percival Aircraft Limited. It was a single-engine low-wing, wood-and-fabric monoplane with a fixed tailwheel undercarriage.
The Handley Page HP.115 was an experimental delta wing aircraft designed and produced by the British aircraft manufacturer Handley Page. It was built to test the low-speed handling characteristics to be expected from the slender delta configuration anticipated for a future supersonic airliner.
Edgar Wikner Percival was a noted Australian aircraft designer and pilot whose aircraft were distinguished by speed and grace. Percival went on to set up the Percival Aircraft Company, a British aircraft company.
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