Fairey Aviation was a British aircraft manufacturer founded in 1915 by Richard Fairey. Based at Hayes, it began with seaplanes and developed a substantial naval aviation business. Its aviation interests passed to Westland in 1960, while the wider Fairey industrial group continued along a separate engineering and instrumentation path.[1]
Richard Fairey and the early enterprise
Before establishing his own firm, Richard Fairey had served as chief engineer at Short Brothers. His interests extended from aircraft structures to long-distance flying and rotary-wing technology. A Belgian company, Avions Fairey, was founded in 1931. The British firm's Long Range Monoplane achieved a non-stop distance record in 1933, flying from Cranwell to Walvis Bay. The Swordfish followed during the same decade and became an important naval aircraft during the Second World War, including the attack on the Italian fleet at Taranto.[2]
Post-war naval aircraft
Fairey's Gannet programme began in 1945 to meet a requirement for an advanced carrier-borne anti-submarine aircraft. Its prototype flew in 1949, and Royal Navy service began in 1954. The design paired folding wings and a large weapons bay with a coupled Double Mamba powerplant driving contra-rotating propellers. Separate crew positions accommodated the pilot, observer and electronic equipment operator. Australia selected the Gannet for HMAS Melbourne, extending the company's naval market beyond British service.[3]
Rotorcraft and industrial change
Fairey also investigated helicopters: its Gyrodyne established a helicopter speed record in 1948, and work continued on passenger-carrying rotorcraft. This formed part of a company whose interests were already broader than conventional aeroplane production. During the 1950s the group diversified into areas including marine engineering, energy and filtration. The transfer of the aviation business to Westland therefore represented the end of one manufacturing activity within a wider enterprise, rather than the disappearance of every company carrying the Fairey name.[2][1]