More Farnborough Gold

I wonder what Brazil sees in making all those airliners these days – when Britain can’t seem to make it work.

As British Aerospace technically doesn’t exist (it changed its name to BAE Systems a number of years ago) I often wonder about their commitment to genuine “aerospace” work.
I have a general theory that business is not JUST in business to make profit. Although making profits is a fine goal for any business and without them a business will eventually fail, a business still has to have regard for its core activity – why it was set up in the first place. In Britain today, far too many businesses have deviated from the original “business” that got them going in the first place – as a result we have research esttablishments which make more money as land owners, we have brewries that don’t brew beer any more and we have an aviation manufacturer who seem to think that building aeroplanes is an activity they would like to get out of.

Profit and shareholder returns isn’t everything.

And to say that a quiet “airshow” (i.e one where there iis hardly anything flying) is better than a good old fashioned “blood and thunder” air display is probably indicative of the loss of passion, heart and soul from the people involved in the British aviation industry today and doesn’t bode well for the future.

MMITCH,

How many complete aircraft are built ANYWHERE today? What on earth does that have to do with the state of the Aerospace industry, you are merely talking about final assembly, which is low tech and worth zilch!
The 146/RJ could not compete so it went.

The UK is part of a global aerospace industry and is a very succesful and highly profitable part of it, second only to the USA.

Apart from the USA, France and Sweden build complete aircraft.
Anyway this thread started about the 1948 Farnborough Airshow when if I remember correctly all participating aircraft had to be British made.
mmitch.

if you ever see a double video, altho i suppose it will eventually get onto dvd, of Farnborough “the glory years” or some such title, get it! its of all the old cine film taken during the week, with a fair bit of air to air filming too…amazing stuff…thanx for sharing!!

All those shots of British jets breaking the sound barrier! Slightly surreal air to air shots of jets with a piston engined sound track (camera plane?) It ends with coverage of the first Concorde flight. 🙂
mmitch.

if you ever see a double video, altho i suppose it will eventually get onto dvd, of farnborough “the glory years” or some such title, get it! its of all the old cine film taken during the week, with a fair bit of air to air filming too…amazing stuff…thanx for sharing!!

It is already out on DVD at an amazing price of just £4.99 on e.bay. I’ve just replaced my VHS copy and looking at the VHS copies being sold(or rather offered for sale) on e.bay, so have many other people.

ermm……I dont think rolls-royce sit around having day long coffee mornings…..filton and derby might have somthing to say about that….hawks are still in production to…and will be on the increase with the brit/indian order.

if you ever see a double video, altho i suppose it will eventually get onto dvd, of farnborough “the glory years” or some such title, get it! its of all the old cine film taken during the week, with a fair bit of air to air filming too…amazing stuff…thanx for sharing!!

MMITCH,

How many complete aircraft are built ANYWHERE today? What on earth does that have to do with the state of the Aerospace industry, you are merely talking about final assembly, which is low tech and worth zilch!
The 146/RJ could not compete so it went.

The UK is part of a global aerospace industry and is a very succesful and highly profitable part of it, second only to the USA.

MMITCH,
You say;
“One bit of Eurofighter and the Airbus wings are all we have left of the aircraft industry now.”

Clearly you know nothing about the current Aerospace industry.

How many complete aircraft are built in the UK today?
The Avro 146/Rj series ceased production more than a year ago.
mmitch.

Avro Athena was versus Balliol, I think, and Balliol won.

BTW Setter 125 has some pics on his site from SBAC display at Radlett in 1947
I have some b & w pics I’ve scanned from Flight/Aeroplane magazines from then
if anyone would like me to put them up…not very good quality however
Albert…sorry, no colour
Setter, if you pick up this thread, one pic on your site I think has a Dh Don in the background – can you confirm ??
DC

Does anyone else have any more Farnborough photos in COLOUR taken between 1958-66, as I went to all those shows and would love to see more scans of slides from those years? Those were the golden years of the British aircraft industry and since then it’s been all downhill!

I will look up the loft somtime this week have got the xmas light’s etc to put up there . Theres a pile of them sbac program books up there in a corner from around the 50s upwards will see what i can dig out and scan .

MMITCH,
You say;
“One bit of Eurofighter and the Airbus wings are all we have left of the aircraft industry now.”

Clearly you know nothing about the current Aerospace industry.

Albert Ross,

Fair point, I misread your 1958 for 1948 as that was the year on the first post.

My point is still valid though, the show may be dull but the industry is still more effective and profitable now than it was then. Just because we don’t do as much final assembly now as then does not make it then better. There is virtually no value or technology involved in final assembly, it’s manpower intensive and expensive, all for little gain.
Systems is where todays cutting edge is and we have an industry second to none in that field, why do you think even Boeing are considering selling off manufacturing and most famous names in the US industry no longer make airframes?

The Viscount and the 748 were excellent products, but they still pale in to insignificance alongside the money made by Airbus wings and technology, an Airbus 340-500 is more than 50% UK content by value and components and that is just one example.

BTW,

I’ve been to every Farnborough since 1974 and to be honest, they are far better now because you can actually hear what your customers are saying and get things done, not that you need to do that at an airshow, which it doesn’t actually need to be anyway.

Farnborough 2004 was nowhere as good as even 10 years ago. At least Airbus and Boeing and the US military suppliers attended and flew displays then.
One bit of Eurofighter and the Airbus wings are all we have left of the aircraft industry now. 🙁
mmitch.

Who mentioned 1948? The period was 1958-1966 and who mentioned profit….but perhaps the worldwide sale of 444 Vickers Viscounts perhaps might be worth mentioning, or all the Hawker Hunters that served worldwide, or all the Avro 748s…do you want any more? Have you been to what is called the Farnborough ‘Air show’ in the last couple of years??? It just doesn’t compare to the period I mentioned.

OH COME ON! 🙂

Was that REALLY the “Golden years of the British Aircraft industry” as Albert Ross declares and has it REALLY been “down hill ever since” ?

Or, as Steve Young says…………….

“Ah, them was the days. Back when we actually had an aircraft industry…”

Let’s be realistic here, look at the 47 types illustrated, how many made any sort of a profit or were anywhere near a success? Most of them were not wanted by anyone and simply vanished into obscurity. How many of these companies existed purely because we had just fought a six year war of national survival when we needed every aircraft we could lay our hands on, that situation was a one off and the number of companies soon diminished because they couldn’t produce products that anyone actually wanted.

To compare 1948 to now and claim it as some sort of Golden era is a nonsense, it may have been fabulous to see all these different types and an enthusiasts dream, but don’t kid your self that this was a SUCCESFUL British aircraft industry because it wasn’t.
Todays British Aerospace industry is a global player and very profitable, it may not be as much fun to watch, but it is better and does what a company is supposed to do, the ONLY thing a company is supposed to do and the only reason it exists———–it makes a profit.

Does anyone else have any more Farnborough photos in COLOUR taken between 1958-66, as I went to all those shows and would love to see more scans of slides from those years? Those were the golden years of the British aircraft industry and since then it’s been all downhill!

Yes, and Ron Clear is on the list of Airspeed pilots – he too flew RR299 quite a bit.

Bruce

I love the list of pilots on page 6. Imagine going to a show to see that lot perform-wonderful.

I see Pat Fillingham’s name on the list of DH pilots, a Mossie test pilot, and he continued flying the late lamented RR299 at airshows well into the late sixties if not not later I believe…

The planet satelite was completed but as PL states she never got of the ground… They did try.
IIRC… The airframe was partially scrapped and the fuselage used in an experimental helicopter, (FIRTH something rattles in my head for some reason)which again failed. She was finally melted down for the magnesium involved in her construction.
With modern materials I wonder if it would have worked… Wouldn’t look out of place either.
OAW

N32 was the class ‘B’ markings for G-AIDN/MT818

It would be nice to see it back here one day…

Bruce