- Gloster Aircraft Company
Infobox Defunct Company
company_name = Gloster Aircraft Company, Limited
company_
fate = Merged with Armstrong Whitworth (1961) andAvro (1963)
successor =Hawker Siddeley Aviation
foundation = 1917 (as Gloucestershire Aircraft Company)
defunct = 1963
location =Hucclecote
industry = Aviation
key_people =
products =
num_employees =
parent =Hawker Aircraft (1934)
subsid =The Gloster Aircraft Company, Limited, known locally as GAC, was a British aircraft manufacturer. The company produced a famous lineage of fighters for theRoyal Air Force (RAF); the Grebe, Gladiator, Meteor and Javelin. It also produced theHawker Hurricane andHawker Typhoon for the parent companyHawker Siddeley . Gloster produced the first Britishgas turbine -powered aircraft: the E.28/39 and the first British (and only gas-turbine-powered Allied aircraft to see service inWorld War II ) production jet fighter in the Meteor. Gloster's test runway became famous for the first flight of SirFrank Whittle 'sturbojet in the E.28/39 aircraft.History
The Gloster Aircraft Company was formed in 1917 as the Gloucestershire Aircraft Company. The company acquired the aircraft business previously carried out by H H Martyn with a 50% share, and the Aircraft Manufacturing Company the other 50%. The company rented what was the Sunningend works of H H Martyn in
Cheltenham ,Gloucestershire . As orders for aircraft increased, other companies in the Gloucester and Cheltenham district were contracted with work. Where any flying was involved the aircraft were moved to an Air Board aircraft acceptance park atHucclecote seven miles (11 km) away by motor transport. Although Huccelcote aerodrome was used by the company it had no hangars until 1921 when it rented part of hangar from the Air Board.When the British aircraft manufacturer
Nieuport & General closed down in 1920, the services of its chief designer,Henry Folland were hired by Gloster, who also acquired the rights for theNieuport Nighthawk fighter and unbuilt aircraft components.In 1926, the name of the company was abbreviated to the Gloster Aircraft Company because customers outside of the
United Kingdom found the original name too difficult to pronounce.With the move to metal construction the Sunningend factory was no longer suitable and in 1928 the company bought the aerodrome at Hucclecote with all the hangars and office accommodation.
1934 - amalgamation
In 1934 the company was taken over by
Hawker Aircraft , though it continued to produce aircraft under its own name. In that same year the company produced the famous Gladiator biplane. The 1935 merger of Hawker Aircraft and the interests of J. D. Siddeley (Armstrong Siddeley andArmstrong Whitworth Aircraft ) saw Gloster become a part of Hawker Siddeley Aircraft, Ltd.The Gladiator was a
biplane fighter, used by the RAF and theRoyal Navy 'sFleet Air Arm (FAA) as the carrier-capable Sea Gladiator, as well as a number of other air forces, duringWorld War II . Theaircraft had a top speed of around 414 km/h. The Gladiator had an enclosed, single-seatcockpit , cantilever landing gear and a two-blade, fixed-pitchpropeller driven by aBristol Mercury air-cooled engine. A total of 756 airframes were built: 480 RAF, 60 FAA, 216 exported to 13 countries. Gladiators were sold toBelgium ,China ,Egypt ,Finland ,Free French ,Greece ,Iraq ,Ireland ,Latvia ,Lithuania ,Norway ,Portugal , South Africa andSweden .Although serving valiantly in the first years of the Second World War, the Gloster Gladiator was sorely outclassed by contemporary monoplane fighters such as the Messerschmitt
Bf-109 , and destined to be the RAF's last biplane fighter.1939 - World War II
Having no modern designs of its own in production, Gloster undertook manufacture for the parent company Hawker. In 1939, the company built 1,000
Hawker Hurricane s in the first 12 months ofWorld War II and delivered its last of 2,750 Hurricanes in 1942. Production was then switched to theHawker Typhoon s for theRoyal Air Force , 3,300 being built in total.1941 - turbojet
On
8 April 1941 , the first test flight of theGloster E.28/39 with a turbo-jet engine, invented by SirFrank Whittle . took off from the company's airfield atBrockworth . This formed the basis for theGloster Meteor , the only jet to be used by theAllied Forces during World War II.The Meteor was the first operational Allied jet
fighter aircraft ofWorld War II . First flying with the BritishRoyal Air Force (RAF) in 1943, the Meteor commenced operations in mid-1944, only some weeks later than the world's first operational jet, the GermanMesserschmitt Me 262 .1945 - world record
In 1945 a Meteor F Mk.4 prototype, stripped of armament, gained a World Airspeed Record of convert|606|mi/h|km/h|abbr=on with Group Captain H. Wilson at the controls. In early 1946, another F Mk.4 prototype was used to set a world air speed record of 616 mph (991 km/h)
true airspeed with Group Captain "Teddy" Donaldson flying the highly modified Meteor, nicknamed "Yellow Peril." During the record attempt Donaldson became the first man to break the 1,000 km/h barrier, winning theBritannia Trophy and a Bar to his AFC. Meteors remained in service with several air forces for many years and saw action in theKorean War with theRoyal Australian Air Force (RAAF). Eventually, Gloster Meteors in fighter, trainer and night fighter versions were in operational use by 12 nations.1947 - Gloster's heyday
During Gloster's "heyday," in 1947, S/L
Janusz Zurakowski was employed as an experimental pilot. In the following years, he became one of the world's most famous experimental and aerobatics pilots. He developed a new aerobatic manoeuvre, the "Zurabatic Cartwheel", which held the audience captivated as he suspended the Gloster Meteor G-7-1 prototype he was flying, in a vertical cartwheel at the 1951 Farnborough Air Show), a manoeuvre the announcer declared to be "Impossible!" Serving for a brief period as the chief test pilot, he tested the many experimental versions of the Gloster Meteor, Javelin and E.1/44 fighters. During the Gloster years, "Zura" as he came to be known, set an international speed record: London-Copenhagen-London, 4-5 April, 1950.In 1952, the two seat,
delta wing edGloster Javelin was developed as an all weather fighter that could fly above convert|50000|ft|m at almost the speed of sound. This modern aircraft proved to be too heavy to take off from the short airfield inBrockworth , and was instead fitted out to the bare minimum and given a very small fuel load. It was then flown in a short hop toRAF Moreton Valence three miles (5 km) to the south, where the aircraft would be completed. It was this shortcoming of the facilities, along with the rationalisation of the British aircraft industry, that would lead to the demise of Gloster.1960s - demise
In 1961, the company was merged with Sir W G Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft Limited to form Whitworth Gloster Aircraft Limited. Following another re-organisation, the firm became part of the Avro Whitworth Division of Hawker Siddeley Aviation in 1963, and the name Gloster disappeared as Hawker Siddeley rebranded its product line under its own name.
The site at
Brockworth was sold in 1964. The runway, while still visible from the air, has been partially obstructed by buildings on what is now the Gloucester Trading Estate. Many of the firms based on the estate are housed in former hangars.Products
*1921 Gloster Mars - single-seat racing biplane later modified as the
Gloster I
*1921Gloster Sparrowhawk
*1922 Gloster Mars VI Nighthawk
*1922Gloster Mars X Nightjar
*1923Gloster Gannet - single-seat ultra light biplane
*1923Gloster Grebe - single-seat day fighter biplane
*1923Gloster Grouse
*1924Gloster Gorcock - expermental single seat fighter biplane
*1924Gloster II - single-seat racing biplane
*1925Gloster III - single-seat racing float biplane
*1925Gloster Gamecock - single-seat day and night interceptor biplane
*1925Gloster Guan - experimental single-seat high altitude fighter biplane
*1926Gloster Goral - two-seat general purpose biplane
*1926Gloster Goring - two-seat day bomber/torpedo biplane
*1927Gloster IV - single-seat racing float biplane
*1927Gloster Goldfinch - single-seat high-altitude day and night fighter biplane
*1927 Gloster Gambet - single-seat deck landing fighter biplane
*1928Gloster Gnatsnapper - single-seat deck landing fighter biplane
*1929Gloster VI - single-seat racing monoplane (world absolute speed record holder for a few hours in 1929)
*1934Gloster Gauntlet - single-seat day and night fighter biplane
*1929Gloster AS.31 - two-seat photographic survey biplane
*1932Gloster TC.33 - four-engined bomber/transport biplane
*1932Gloster TSR.38 - three-seat torpedo/spotter/reconnaissance biplane
*1934Gloster Gladiator - single-seat day fighter biplane
*1937Gloster F.5/34 single-seat day fighter monoplane prototype
*1939Gloster F.9/37 twin engined heavy fighter prototype
*1941Gloster E.28/39 first British jet engined aircraft
*1944Gloster Meteor single-seat day fighter - only allied jet aircraft to see action during WW II
*1948Gloster E.1/44 single-seat jet day fighter prototype
*1954Gloster Javelin two-seat all-weather jet fighter
*1954Gloster Meteor F8 "Prone Pilot" experimental conversion of MeteorReferences
* James, Derek N. "Gloster Aircraft since 1917." London: Putnam, 1987. ISBN 0-85177-807-0.
* Thomas, Nick. RAF Top Gun: Teddy Donaldson CB, DSO, AFC and Bar Battle of Britain Ace and World Air speed Record Holder, Pen & Sword, 2008. ISBN-10: 1844156850 ISBN-13: 978-1844156856* Zuk, Bill. "Janusz Zurakowski: Legends in the Sky," St. Catharine's, Ontario: Vanwell, 2004, ISBN 1-55125-083-7.
External links
:* [http://mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/brockworthpc/page6.html History of the Gloster Aircraft Company at Brockworth]
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.