Scottish Aviation

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Scottish Aviation Limited
IndustryAerospace, engineering
Founded1935
Defunct1977
FateMerged into British Aerospace
HeadquartersPrestwick, Scotland, UK
Key people
Robert McIntyre
The factory building of Scottish Aviation, which still exists today, was formerly the Palace of Engineering at the 1938 Empire Exhibition in Bellahouston Park, Glasgow. It is now owned by Spirit AeroSystems.

Scottish Aviation Limited was an aircraft manufacturer based in Prestwick, Scotland.[1]

History

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The company was founded in 1935.[2][3] Originally a flying school operator, the company took on maintenance work in 1938. During the Second World War, Scottish Aviation was involved in aircraft fitting for the war effort. This included maintenance and conversion of the Consolidated Liberator bomber.

The factory building of Scottish Aviation, which still exists today, was formerly the Palace of Engineering at the 1938 Empire Exhibition in Bellahouston Park, Glasgow. The building was dismantled from its Glasgow site and reconstructed.

Post-war it built robust military STOL utility aircraft such as the Pioneer and larger Twin Pioneer. Much later the company built some Jetstream turboprop transport and navigational training aircraft following the collapse of Handley Page (which designed the type). It built Bulldog trainers after the demise of their original manufacturer, Beagle Aircraft Limited.

In November 1958, redundancies affecting almost 800 of their 2,500 staff were announced.[4] Scottish Aviation merged with the British Aircraft Corporation, Hawker Siddeley Aviation, and Hawker Siddeley Dynamics to form British Aerospace in 1977. Much of the former Scottish Aviation assets now belong to Spirit AeroSystems.

Aircraft

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(first flight in brackets)

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Cars

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1965 Scottish Aviation Scamp

Between 1964 and 1966 Scottish Aviation designed a small battery-electric car, the Scottish Aviation Scamp, of which twelve pre-production examples were built.[5]

See also

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References

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Citations

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  1. ^ "Scottish Aviation". BAE Systems | International.
  2. ^ "Scots firm plans air network. Global Service Based on Prestwick". The Herald. Glasgow. 27 October 1944. p. 4. Retrieved 24 November 2016.
  3. ^ "airport history". Glasgow Prestwick Airport. 15 July 2009. Archived from the original on 31 March 2009.
  4. ^ "Further Shock at Prestwick". The Herald. Glasgow. 21 November 1958. p. 1. Retrieved 24 November 2016.
  5. ^ Carr, Richard (1 July 1966). "In search of the town car". Design (211). Council of Industrial Design: 29–37.

Bibliography

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  • Jackson, A.J. British Civil Aircraft since 1919 (Volume 3). London, Putnam, 1974. ISBN 0-370-10014-X

Further reading

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  • Berry, P (2005) Prestwick Airport and Scottish Aviation
  • Robertson, A (1986) Lion Rampant and Winged
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