Airwork Limited, also referred to during its history as Airwork Services Limited, is a wholly owned subsidiary company of

VT Group VT Group is a privately held United States defense and services company, with its origins in a former British shipbuilding group, previously known as Vosper Thornycroft. The British part of VT Group was integrated into Babcock International in t ...

plc. It has a long and rich history in providing a variety of defence support services to the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

(RAF),

Fleet Air Arm The Fleet Air Arm (FAA) is one of the five fighting arms of the Royal Navy and is responsible for the delivery of naval air power both from land and at sea. The Fleet Air Arm operates the F-35 Lightning II for maritime strike, the AW159 Wil ...

and overseas air forces, as well as having played an important role in the development of civil aviation – both in the United Kingdom and abroad.

History

Origins

Airwork was founded in 1928 by

Nigel Norman Air Commodore Sir Henry Nigel St Valery Norman, 2nd Baronet, (21 May 1897 – 19 May 1943) was a consulting civil engineer and Royal Air Force officer during the first half of the 20th century.Alan Muntz, with the opening of the private

Heston Aerodrome Heston Aerodrome was an airfield located to the west of London, England, operational between 1929 and 1947. It was situated on the border of the Heston and Cranford areas of Hounslow, Middlesex. In September 1938, the British Prime Minister, Ne ...

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, historic county in South East England, southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the Ceremonial counties of ...

.''Aeroplane – Britain's Biggest Independent Airline'', Vol. 102, No. 2625, pp. 143/4, Temple Press, London, 8 February 1962 In the early days, Airwork's chief pilot was Captain

Valentine Baker Valentine Baker (also known as Baker Pasha) (1 April 1827 – 17 November 1887), was a British soldier, and a younger brother of Sir Samuel Baker. Biography Baker was educated in Gloucester and in Ceylon, and in 1848 entered the Ceylon Rifles ...

MC, DFC, who later formed the world-famous

Martin-Baker Martin-Baker Aircraft Company Limited is a British manufacturer of ejection seats and safety-related equipment for aviation. The company's origins were originally as an aircraft manufacturer before becoming a pioneer in the field of ejection s ...

company with Sir James Martin. In December 1936, Airwork Limited was registered at

Companies House Companies House is the executive agency of the company registrars of the United Kingdom, falling under the remit of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. All forms of companies (as permitted by the Companies Act) are i ...

, and the newly formed company started its long association with RAF flying training. Airwork moved out of Heston in 1935 due to a lack of adequate space and relocated to

Gatwick Gatwick Airport (), also known as London Gatwick , is a major international airport near Crawley, West Sussex, England, south of Central London. In 2021, Gatwick was the third-busiest airport by total passenger traffic in the UK, after H ...

, where it continued with a contract to maintain Whitley bombers for the RAF. During the 1930s, Airwork also helped to establish the predecessors of the post-

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

national airlines of

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

, India and

Rhodesia Rhodesia (, ), officially from 1970 the Republic of Rhodesia, was an unrecognised state in Southern Africa from 1965 to 1979, equivalent in territory to modern Zimbabwe. Rhodesia was the ''de facto'' successor state to the British colony of S ...

. Thus,

United Arab Airlines United may refer to: Places * United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Arts and entertainment Films * United (2003 film), ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film * United (2011 film) ...

Indian Airlines Indian Airlines was a division of Air India Limited. It was based in Delhi and focused primarily on domestic routes, along with several international services to neighbouring countries in Asia. It was a division of Air India Limited after m ...

and Central African Airways were Airwork descendants.''Fly me, I'm Freddie!'', p. 58

RAF training

In June 1936, Airwork opened No. 11 RAF Elementary and Reserve Flying Training School (ERFTS) at

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

in Scotland, under contract to the

Air Ministry The Air Ministry was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom with the responsibility of managing the affairs of the Royal Air Force, that existed from 1918 to 1964. It was under the political authority of the Secretary of State ...

. The company developed accommodation and facilities there, and provided aircraft in the form of the

de Havilland Tiger Moth The de Havilland DH.82 Tiger Moth is a 1930s British biplane designed by Geoffrey de Havilland and built by the de Havilland Aircraft Company. It was operated by the Royal Air Force (RAF) and other operators as a primary trainer aircraft. ...

. Other Airwork operated ERFTS followed soon afterwards with No. 14 ERFTS at

Castle Bromwich Castle Bromwich () is a large suburban village situated within the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull in the English county of the West Midlands. It is bordered by the rest of the borough to the south east; also Sutton Coldfield to the east and ...

in July 1937, No. 17 ERFTS at Barton in October 1937, No. 50 ERFTS at Barton, and Ringway in May 1939 and No. 44 ERFTS at

Elmdon :''See also, Elmdon, West Midlands.'' Elmdon is a village in the Uttlesford district of Essex, England, near the boundary with Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire. The hilly topography of the area differentiates it from countryside to the north, w ...

in May 1939. With the outbreak of World War II the word 'Reserve' was dropped, and the 50 ERFTS establishments were consolidated into 20 Elementary Flying Training Schools (EFTS). No 17 ERFTS was disbanded at that time, and No. 44 ERFTS at Elmdon was merged with No. 14 ERFTS at Castle Bromwich to form No. 14 EFTS. One further Airwork-run unit, No. 21 EFTS, was established at Booker in June 1941, with

Miles Magister The Miles M.14 Magister is a two-seat monoplane basic trainer aircraft designed and built by the United Kingdom, British aircraft manufacturer Miles Aircraft. It was affectionately known as the ''Maggie''. It was authorised to perform aerobatics ...

s supplementing the

Tiger Moth The de Havilland DH.82 Tiger Moth is a 1930s British biplane designed by Geoffrey de Havilland and built by the de Havilland Aircraft Company. It was operated by the Royal Air Force (RAF) and other operators as a primary trainer aircraft. ...

s then in use there and at all other EFTS. Through its sites at Gatwick and newer

aerodrome An aerodrome (Commonwealth English) or airdrome (American English) is a location from which aircraft flight operations take place, regardless of whether they involve air cargo, passengers, or neither, and regardless of whether it is for publ ...

s at Staverton,

Renfrew Renfrew (; sco, Renfrew; gd, Rinn Friù) is a town west of Glasgow in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. It is the historic county town of Renfrewshire. Called the "Cradle of the Royal Stewarts" for its early link with Scotland's former ...

and

Loughborough Loughborough ( ) is a market town in the Charnwood borough of Leicestershire, England, the seat of Charnwood Borough Council and Loughborough University. At the 2011 census the town's built-up area had a population of 59,932 , the second larg ...

, Airwork also became a vital part of the Air Ministry's maintenance operations. Further aircrew training, for example No. 6 Air Observer navigation School at Staverton using

Dominie Dominie ( Wiktionary definition) is a Scots language and Scottish English term for a Scottish schoolmaster usually of the Church of Scotland and also a term used in the US for a minister or pastor of the Dutch Reformed Church. Origin It comes fr ...

s and

Anson Anson may refer to: People * Anson (name), a give name and surname ** Anson family, a British aristocratic family with the surname Place names ;United States * Anson, Indiana * Anson, Kansas * Anson, Maine ** Anson (CDP), Maine * Anson, Missour ...

s, also featured prominently. Airwork's contribution to the war effort was a vital one, and the company was responsible for the initial training of tens of thousands of pilots. There were also engineering contracts that included the manufacture of Lancaster wings and modifications on Bostons, as well as the preparation, maintenance and repair of

Hurricane A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depend ...

s, Whitleys,

Corsair A corsair is a privateer or pirate, especially: * Barbary corsair, Ottoman and Berber pirates and privateers operating from North Africa * French corsairs, privateers operating on behalf of the French crown Corsair may also refer to: Arts and ...

s, Hellcats,

B-24 Liberator The Consolidated B-24 Liberator is an American heavy bomber, designed by Consolidated Aircraft of San Diego, California. It was known within the company as the Model 32, and some initial production aircraft were laid down as export models des ...

s and

Mustang The mustang is a free-roaming horse of the Western United States, descended from horses brought to the Americas by the Spanish. Mustangs are often referred to as wild horses, but because they are descended from once-domesticated animals, they ...

Postwar flying training

Following the war, Airwork purchased Perth Aerodrome from the local Council, and developed a highly successful flying school for commercial pilots. In 1947, Airwork relocated its headquarters to

Langley Langley may refer to: People * Langley (surname), a common English surname, including a list of notable people with the name * Dawn Langley Simmons (1922–2000), English author and biographer * Elizabeth Langley (born 1933), Canadian perfor ...

in Buckinghamshire and further new sites were established at

Blackbushe Airport Blackbushe Airport is an operational general aviation airport in the civil parish of Yateley in the north-east corner of the English county of Hampshire. Built during the Second World War, Blackbushe is north of the A30 road between Camberley ...

(overhaul and sales) and at

Lasham Lasham is a village and civil parish in the East Hampshire district of Hampshire, England. It is northwest of Alton and north of Bentworth, just off the A339 road. The parish covers an area of and has an average elevation of above sea level. ...

(engineering). By now Airwork had been acquired by the Cowdray family, and had become part of the British & Commonwealth (B&C) group of companies. Airwork continued its flying training role providing elementary, RN grading, Volunteer Reserve (VR) and University Air Squadron (UAS) flying training across its locations initially using

s and, from the 1950s, the

Chipmunk Chipmunks are small, striped rodents of the family Sciuridae. Chipmunks are found in North America, with the exception of the Siberian chipmunk which is found primarily in Asia. Taxonomy and systematics Chipmunks may be classified either as ...

. A new Reserve Flying School (13 RFS) was established at

Grangemouth Grangemouth ( sco, Grangemooth; gd, Inbhir Ghrainnse, ) is a town in the Falkirk council area, Scotland. Historically part of the county of Stirlingshire, the town lies in the Forth Valley, on the banks of the Firth of Forth, east of Falkirk ...

in April 1948, and at

RAF Usworth Royal Air Force Sunderland'' or ''RAF Sunderland is a former Royal Air Force station in Sunderland. In 1958 the station was closed and the airfield became Sunderland Airport. Following the closure of the airport in 1984, the site has since b ...

(23 RFS) in February 1949. In April 1951, Airwork also assumed responsibility of No.2 Basic Air Navigation School at

Usworth Washington is a town in the City of Sunderland district of Tyne and Wear, England. Historically part of County Durham, it is the ancestral settlement of the Washington family, which George Washington descended from. It is located between Che ...

. Approximately 25

Avro Anson The Avro Anson is a British twin-engined, multi-role aircraft built by the aircraft manufacturer Avro. Large numbers of the type served in a variety of roles for the Royal Air Force (RAF), Fleet Air Arm (FAA), Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) a ...

T.21's were used and supported during this time. In addition, there were between 15 and 20 Chipmunks, which were used by the

Durham University , mottoeng = Her foundations are upon the holy hills (Psalm 87:1) , established = (university status) , type = Public , academic_staff = 1,830 (2020) , administrative_staff = 2,640 (2018/19) , chancellor = Sir Thomas Allen , vice_chan ...

Air Squadron – mostly at weekends. These were also maintained by Airwork. At

RAF Digby Royal Air Force Digby otherwise known as RAF Digby is a Royal Air Force station located near Scopwick and south east of Lincoln, Lincolnshire, Lincoln, in Lincolnshire, England. The station is home to the tri-service Joint Service Signals Organi ...

Airwork was also responsible for running the No 1 Grading Unit during 1952/53.

Air transport

During the post-

war War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

period Airwork also further expanded its business into civil aviation. This expansion was financed by its wealthy shareholders, including Lord Cowdray,

Whitehall Securities Whitehall Securities Corporation Ltd was formed in 1907 by Weetman Pearson MP and his son Harold Pearson MP. Sir Weetman was nominated as President as well as being a founding director. The company was capitalised at £1,000,000. On 12 December 1 ...

, the Blue Star

shipping line A shipping line or shipping company is a company whose line of business is ownership and operation of ships. Shipping companies provide a method of distinguishing ships by different kinds of cargo: # Bulk cargo is a type of special cargo that is ...

Furness Withy Furness Withy was a major British transport business. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange. History The company was founded by Christopher Furness and Henry Withy (1852–1922) in 1891 in Hartlepool. This was achieved by the amalgamati ...

and Thomas Loel Evelyn Bulkeley Guinness.''World Airline Directory ...'', Flight International, 18 April 1958, p. 526
/ref> Airwork's other

air transport Aviation includes the activities surrounding mechanical flight and the aircraft industry. ''Aircraft'' includes fixed-wing and rotary-wing types, morphable wings, wing-less lifting bodies, as well as lighter-than-air craft such as hot air ...

related activities include contracting, aircraft servicing and maintenance, sale and purchase of aircraft, operation and management of flying schools and clubs, contract charter flying, overhaul and modification of aircraft, specialised aerodrome catering and

aviation insurance Aviation insurance is insurance coverage geared specifically to the operation of aircraft and the risks involved in aviation. Aviation insurance policies are distinctly different from those for other areas of transportation and tend to incorporate ...

Airline operations

During the early post-World War II years,

charter flight Air charter is the business of renting an entire aircraft (i.e., chartering) as opposed to individual aircraft seats (i.e., purchasing a ticket through a traditional airline). Regulation Charter – also called air taxi or ad hoc – flights ...

s using

Handley Page Hermes The Handley Page HP.81 Hermes was a civilian airliner designed and produced by the British aircraft manufacturer Handley Page. The Hermes was developed during the 1940s in parallel with the closely related Handley Page Hastings military transp ...

and

Vickers Viking The Vickers Viking was a British single-engine amphibious aircraft designed for military use shortly after World War I. Later versions of the aircraft were known as the Vickers Vulture and Vickers Vanellus. Design and development Researc ...

airliner An airliner is a type of aircraft for transporting passengers and air cargo. Such aircraft are most often operated by airlines. Although the definition of an airliner can vary from country to country, an airliner is typically defined as an ...

s, primarily flying out of

, constituted the bulk of Airwork's commercial air transport activities. These included a twice weekly series of flights on behalf of the Sudanese government, which carried 10,000 passengersincluding 394 babies between London,

Wadi Halfa Wādī Ḥalfā ( ar, وادي حلفا) is a city in the Northern state of Sudan on the shores of Lake Nubia near the border with Egypt. It is the terminus of a rail line from Khartoum and the point where goods are transferred from rail to ferr ...

and

Khartoum Khartoum or Khartum ( ; ar, الخرطوم, Al-Khurṭūm, din, Kaartuɔ̈m) is the capital of Sudan. With a population of 5,274,321, its metropolitan area is the largest in Sudan. It is located at the confluence of the White Nile, flowing n ...

between 1947 and 1950, as well as a series of

inclusive tour A package tour, package vacation, or package holiday comprises transport and accommodation advertised and sold together by a vendor known as a tour operator. Other services may be provided such as a rental car, activities or outings during the ho ...

(IT) flights under contract to the UK Civil Service, and flights carrying

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

pilgrims to and from

Jeddah Jeddah ( ), also spelled Jedda, Jiddah or Jidda ( ; ar, , Jidda, ), is a city in the Hejaz region of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) and the country's commercial center. Established in the 6th century BC as a fishing village, Jeddah's pro ...

during the annual

Hajj The Hajj (; ar, حَجّ '; sometimes also spelled Hadj, Hadji or Haj in English) is an annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, the holiest city for Muslims. Hajj is a mandatory religious duty for Muslims that must be carried ...

season. Airwork was also among the UK independentindependent from

government-owned corporation A state-owned enterprise (SOE) is a government entity which is established or nationalised by the ''national government'' or ''provincial government'' by an executive order or an act of legislation in order to earn profit for the governmen ...

s airlines participating in the

Berlin Airlift The Berlin Blockade (24 June 1948 – 12 May 1949) was one of the first major international crises of the Cold War. During the multinational occupation of post–World War II Germany, the Soviet Union blocked the Western Allies' railway, road ...

. Airwork first proposed transporting troops by air rather than by sea in 1950. The company's contacts with the

War Office The War Office was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, when its functions were transferred to the new Ministry of Defence (MoD). This article contains text from ...

helped Airwork become the first carrier to be awarded a trooping flight contract. The War Office subsequently made Airwork its main contractor for the UK—Singapore trooping service, as well as its unofficial "chosen instrument" for all trooping flights that were contracted to third parties. However, the

Hermes Hermes (; grc-gre, Ἑρμῆς) is an Olympian deity in ancient Greek religion and mythology. Hermes is considered the herald of the gods. He is also considered the protector of human heralds, travellers, thieves, merchants, and orato ...

aircraft that operated most of these flights frequently suffered from engine faults. This resulted in

crash landing An emergency landing is a premature landing made by an aircraft in response to an emergency involving an imminent or ongoing threat to the safety and operation of the aircraft, or involving a sudden need for a passenger or crew on board to term ...

s on a number of occasions. These incidents cast doubt on the aircraft's reliability and the airline's safety record, as a result of which the firm lost its monopoly in the trooping business.''WINGED FEET for the TROOPS — Airwork Inaugurate Hermes Trooping Service'', Flight International, 27 June 1952, p. 771
/ref>Aviation Safety Network > ASN Aviation Safety Database > Operator index > United Kingdom > Airwork
/ref> In 1952, Airwork applied for UK and US authority to operate scheduled

transatlantic Transatlantic, Trans-Atlantic or TransAtlantic may refer to: Film * Transatlantic Pictures, a film production company from 1948 to 1950 * Transatlantic Enterprises, an American production company in the late 1970s * ''Transatlantic'' (1931 film), ...

all-freight services from London via

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

to New York City's Idlewild airport (later

JFK John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination i ...

).Merton Jones, 1976, p.48 The same year, on 14 June, Airwork began operating quasi-scheduled low-fare services from the UK to

East East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fa ...

Central Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...

, Southern and West Africa using Vikings. These services were part of a joint operation with Hunting Air Transport, another wholly private British independent airline of that era. Flights initially operated on a fortnightly basis.''This is Skycoach'', Air Commerce ..., Flight International, 7 October 1960, p. 559
/ref>

International Air Transport Association The International Air Transport Association (IATA ) is a trade association of the world's airlines founded in 1945. IATA has been described as a cartel since, in addition to setting technical standards for airlines, IATA also organized tariff ...

(IATA) minimum fare rules did not apply to these services because the governments that owned most of IATA's member airlines had not empowered it to set and control domestic air fares, including dependent overseas territories. The first joint Airwork—Hunting all-

economy An economy is an area of the production, distribution and trade, as well as consumption of goods and services. In general, it is defined as a social domain that emphasize the practices, discourses, and material expressions associated with the ...

''Safari''/colonial coach classBritish residents only service from London to

Nairobi Nairobi ( ) is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The name is derived from the Maasai phrase ''Enkare Nairobi'', which translates to "place of cool waters", a reference to the Nairobi River which flows through the city. The city proper ha ...

routed via

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

Benghazi Benghazi () , ; it, Bengasi; tr, Bingazi; ber, Bernîk, script=Latn; also: ''Bengasi'', ''Benghasi'', ''Banghāzī'', ''Binghāzī'', ''Bengazi''; grc, Βερενίκη (''Berenice'') and ''Hesperides''., group=note (''lit. Son of he Ghazi ...

, Wadi Halfa, Khartoum,

Juba Juba () is the capital and largest city of South Sudan. The city is situated on the White Nile and also serves as the capital of the Central Equatoria State. It is the world's newest capital city to be elevated as such, and had a populatio ...

and

Entebbe Entebbe is a city in Central Uganda. Located on a Lake Victoria peninsula, approximately southwest of the Ugandan capital city, Kampala. Entebbe was once the seat of government for the Protectorate of Uganda prior to independence, in 1962. The c ...

.''Hunting-Clan — Air-Sea Alliance: The Background to Some Efficient Independent Airline Operations'', Flight International, 8 January 1954, p. 46
/ref>
/ref> It used single-class 27-seat Vikings, which took three dayswith night stops to complete the journey. Although this compared unfavourably with

British Overseas Airways Corporation British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) was the British state-owned airline created in 1939 by the merger of Imperial Airways and British Airways Ltd. It continued operating overseas services throughout World War II. After the passi ...

(BOAC), whose regular scheduled services took only 24 hours, load factors averaged 93% during the first nine months of operation. Airwork and Hunting-Clan continued to achieve very high average load factors of 85–90% because their £98 single fare was £42 cheaper than the comparable BOAC fare. These load factors were much higher than BOAC's, as a result of which the independents doubled the flight frequency on their London-Nairobi ''Safari''/colonial coach route to once-a-week. This service proved to be so popular that a second weekly frequency was eventually added, which was operated alternately by each airline. In June 1953, Airwork and Hunting jointly launched a fortnightly ''Safari''/colonial coach service between London and Salisbury, entailing one round trip per month by each company. In June 1954, Airwork and Hunting launched a joint ''Safari''/colonial coach service to West Africa linking London with

Accra Accra (; tw, Nkran; dag, Ankara; gaa, Ga or ''Gaga'') is the capital and largest city of Ghana, located on the southern coast at the Gulf of Guinea, which is part of the Atlantic Ocean. As of 2021 census, the Accra Metropolitan District, , ...

via

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...

Las Palmas Las Palmas (, ; ), officially Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, is a Spain, Spanish city and capital of Gran Canaria, in the Canary Islands, on the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital (jointly with Santa Cruz de Tenerife), the most populous city in th ...

, Bathurst and

Freetown Freetown is the capital and largest city of Sierra Leone. It is a major port city on the Atlantic Ocean and is located in the Western Area of the country. Freetown is Sierra Leone's major urban, economic, financial, cultural, educational and p ...

. Following long-delayed approval of Airwork's application for a scheduled transatlantic London – Manchester – New York all-cargo service, flights eventually commenced in early 1955, using aircraft chartered from US supplemental carriers.holders of supplemental air carrier certificates authorised to operate non-scheduled passenger and cargo services to supplement the scheduled operations of certificated route air carriers; airlines holding supplemental air carrier certificates are also known as "nonskeds" in the US However, the operation was short-lived.it ceased at the end of 1955 By 1957, Airwork and Hunting-Clan had converted their successful

West West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sunset, Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic languages, German ...

and Southern African ''Safari''/colonial coach flights into regular "third-class" scheduled services. However, the

Government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...

forced the independents to maintain additional stops that were no longer needed, as a result of replacing Vikings with technologically advanced

Douglas DC-6 The Douglas DC-6 is a piston-powered airliner and cargo aircraft built by the Douglas Aircraft Company from 1946 to 1958. Originally intended as a military transport near the end of World War II, it was reworked after the war to compete with th ...

s and

Vickers Viscount The Vickers Viscount is a British medium-range turboprop airliner first flown in 1948 by Vickers-Armstrongs. A design requirement from the Brabazon Committee, it entered service in 1953 and was the first turboprop-powered airliner. The Visc ...

s. It also required them to share all traffic with BOAC on a 30:70 basis. Despite these restrictions, the independents' services were fully booked five months ahead within a fortnight of their launch. When Britain's African colonies became independent, ''Safari''/colonial coach was converted into a fully fledged scheduled service. To secure their traffic rights between the UK and the newly independent African nations, Airwork and Hunting-Clan began participating in revenue-sharing agreements with BOAC and the destination countries'

flag carrier A flag carrier is a transport company, such as an airline or shipping company, that, being locally registered in a given sovereign state, enjoys preferential rights or privileges accorded by the government for international operations. Hist ...

s.following Airwork's absorption into

British United Airways British United Airways (BUA) was a private, independentindependent from government-owned corporations British airline formed as a result of the merger of Airwork Services and Hunting-Clan Air Transport in July 1960, making it the largest whol ...

(BUA) and that airline's subsequent acquisition by Caledonian Airways to form

British Caledonian British Caledonian (BCal) was a British private independent airline which operated out of Gatwick Airport in south-east England during the 1970s and 1980s. It was created as an alternative to the British government-controlled corporation airlin ...

(BCal), these arrangements continued to be the legal basis of BUA's and BCal's UK—Africa scheduled services 1957 was also the year Airwork acquired control of Transair, a fellow independent airline. A year later the process of merging the Airwork-controlled airlines with Hunting-Clan to form

(BUA) started.''Fly me, I'm Freddie!'', p. 61 In 1959, Airwork took over

Air Charter Air charter is the business of renting an entire aircraft (i.e., chartering) as opposed to individual aircraft seats (i.e., purchasing a airline ticket, ticket through a traditional airline). Regulation Charter – also called air taxi or ad h ...

Freddie Laker Sir Frederick Alfred Laker (6 August 1922 – 9 February 2006) was an English airline entrepreneur, best known for founding Laker Airways in 1966, which went bankrupt in 1982. Known as Freddie Laker, he was one of the first airline owners to ...

's first airline venture. In February of that year, Airwork transferred the operation of its ''Safari'' flights to its subsidiary Transair, together with two

Viscount A viscount ( , for male) or viscountess (, for female) is a title used in certain European countries for a noble of varying status. In many countries a viscount, and its historical equivalents, was a non-hereditary, administrative or judicial ...

aircraft. This resulted in the service's London terminal moving from Blackbushe to Gatwick. On 19 May 1960, Airwork changed its name to British United Airways. (The origins of the new name went back to

United Airways United Airways (BD) Ltd. (, ), operated as United Airways ( bn, ইউনাইটেড এয়ারওয়েজ), was a Bangladeshi airline headquartered in Uttara, Dhaka. It operated flights from its main hub at Shahjalal Internation ...

, one of the three predecessors of the pre-World War II

British Airways British Airways (BA) is the flag carrier airline of the United Kingdom. It is headquartered in London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a populati ...

. The [re-]use of the United Airways name together with the prefix British had been agreed with shareholder Whitehall Securities, the controlling shareholder of both United Airways and Spartan Air Lines Ltd, Spartan Airways before these airlines' merger with Hillman's Airways to form the pre-war British Airways.) By the time Airwork merged with Hunting-Clan to form BUA in July 1960, the former's air transport subsidiaries already included Airwork Helicopters, Air Charter, Bristow Helicopters, Channel Air Bridge, Transair and Morton Air Services. By that time, Airwork had also negotiated a long-term charter flight, charter contract with the Gold Coast Chamber of Mines. This entailed regular Hermes services between the UK and West Africa. In addition to Airwork's airline operations, the company serviced numerous airliners in the civil maintenance hangar at Hurn Airport. These included Sudan Airways de Havilland Dove, Doves and Douglas C-47, Dakotas, Douglas C-54, Skymasters, and Vikings of various operators.

Post-war fleet details

The Airwork airline operated the following aircraft types: * Airspeed Consul * Douglas DC-3/C-47A/B/Dakota C.4 * Douglas DC-4/C-54/54A *

A *

4/4A/5 *

1B *

700/800 series. In April 1958, the Airwork fleet comprised twelve aircraft.

Accidents and incidents

A fatal accident occurred on 25 August 1952. It involved a Handley Page HP.81 Hermes 4A (registration: G-ALDF) operating an international non-scheduled passenger flight from Blackbushe to Khartoum via Malta. When the aircraft approached Sicily, an engine malfunction affecting engines no. 2 and 3 forced the flightdeck crew to shut down both engines as well as to feather both propellers. Intensive use of the onboard radio equipment to send out emergency signals soon depleted the aircraft's batteries. The resulting electrical power failure caused the remaining two engines to fail as well. This in turn forced the flightdeck crew to ditch the aircraft off the port of Trapani, which killed seven of the 57 occupants. The subsequent accident investigation established the failure of one or both of the inner two engines (no. 2 and 3) as the primary cause. Although the reason for the engines' failure could not be determined, the investigators concluded that only one of these engines malfunctioned and that an error of the flight engineer caused the other one to fail. The investigators furthermore cited a number of contributory factors. These included: # The flightdeck crew's state of mind arising from the knowledge of an earlier accident involving the same aircraft type that had been caused by a power plant failure. # Failure of electrical generators following the stoppage of the no. 2 and 3 engines. # Inadequate batteries that neither ensured normal flight functions nor permitted the transmission of a satisfactory distress message. # Limited experience of the flightdeck and cabin crew on this aircraft type. # The cabin crew's failure to properly follow emergency procedures. # Missing or unusable life rafts. # The failure of life belts. The first non-fatal accident occurred on 23 July 1952. It involved a Handley Page HP.81 Hermes 4A (registration: G-ALDB) operating a trooping flight from Blackbushe to the RAF station in Fayid, Egypt. While the aircraft was overflying France, the flightdeck crew noticed a defect in the no. 4 engine and decided to make an emergency landing at the nearest diversion airfield. This resulted in a crash landing at Pithiviers. Although the aircraft was damaged beyond repair, there were no fatalities among the 70 occupants (six crew and 64 passengers). The evidence at the crash site seemed to suggest that an internal failure occurred inside the no. 4 engine, which caused over-speeding and subsequent disintegration of the reduction gear pinion bearing. The second non-fatal accident occurred on 15 August 1954. It involved a Vickers 627 Viking 1B (registration: G-AIXS) operating a passenger flight from Blackbushe to Nice Côte d'Azur Airport. The pilot in command, captain noticed oil streaming from the no. 2 engine ten minutes after takeoff from Blackbushe. He decided to feather the propeller and to return to Blackbushe, where the aircraft struck the ground short of the runway. Although this damaged the aircraft beyond repair, there were no fatalities among the 37 occupants (five crew and 32 passengers). The accident investigators concluded that the captain's failure to prevent the aircraft from stall (flight), stalling while making a single engine final approach (aviation), approach was the probable cause. The captain's distraction by a flickering red Landing gear, undercarriage indicator light during the critical final approach (aviation), final approach stage was cited as a contributory factor. The third non-fatal accident occurred on 1 September 1957. It involved a Handley Page HP.81 Hermes 4A (registration: G-AKFP) operating an international non-scheduled passenger flight from Blackbushe to RAF Changi, Singapore via Karachi, Delhi and Kolkata, Calcutta. While approaching Calcutta, the aircraft was cleared for a runway 19L Instrument Landing System approach at Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport, Dum Dum Airport. A shower passed at break-off height, as a result of which the flightdeck crew could not see the runway and decided to carry out an overshoot. Dum Dum Air Traffic Control then offered the captain an assisted approach to runway 01R and advised that he was no. 2 to land. Radar control guided the aircraft during the assisted approach and cleared it for a visual landing. At that time the aircraft was a mile from the runway threshold and to the left of 01R's centreline. After breaking through the clouds, the captain was able to see the runway and continued his visual approach without realising that he was actually approaching 01L. When the Airwork Hermes came in to land, an Indian Airlines Douglas DC-3, DC-3 (registration: VT-AUA) had just been cleared to line up and hold on runway 01L. This resulted in the Hermes striking the DC-3. This in turn resulted in the death of the Indian aircraft's four crew members who were its only occupants. There were no fatalities among the Hermes's 64 occupants (six crew and 58 passengers) although the aircraft was damaged beyond repair. Accident investigators cited the Hermes captain's failure to maintain effective radio communications with the control tower, tower during the final stage of the radar-assisted approach and his decision to continue with a visual approach under conditions that did not allow him to positively identify the correct runway as the probable cause of this runway incursion, runway collision.ASN Aircraft accident description Handley Page HP.81 Hermes 4A G-AKFP — Calcutta Dum Dum Airport (CCU)
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Fleet Requirements Unit

A major contract was secured in September 1952 when Airwork was selected by the Royal Navy to operate the Fleet Requirements Unit (FRU) at Hurn Airport, near Bournemouth. The FRU employed civilian pilots using

aircraft to provide target aircraft for the training of Royal Navy radar operators. The first type of aircraft, de Havilland Mosquito, Sea Mosquito, began arriving at Hurn in August 1952 and these were replaced during 1953 by the de Havilland Sea Hornet. Over the next decade the FRU's duties were expanded to include all aspects of Fleet requirement tasks including target towing for gunnery purposes, eventually covering not just UK based destroyers and frigates but the Mediterranean Fleet (United Kingdom), Mediterranean Fleet as well. A wide variety of aircraft types were used over the years with the Sea Hornet being followed, in chronological order, by the Supermarine Attacker (1955–1957), Hawker Sea Fury, Sea Fury (1955–1961), Hawker Sea Hawk, Sea Hawk (1956–1969), Westland Dragonfly (1958–1961), Gloster Meteor (1958–1971), Supermarine Scimitar (1965–1970), Hawker Hunter (1969–1972) and English Electric Canberra (1969–1972).

Military training in the UK

Airwork was also contracted by the Fleet Air Arm in January 1950 to provide aircraft at RNAS Brawdy to exercise the Aircraft Direction School at nearby Kete. They also undertook a Heavy Twin Conversion Course for

pilots using Sea Hornets and Sea Mosquitos. This Unit moved to St. Davids in September 1951 and operated a jet aircraft, jet conversion course with Meteor T.7s. It returned to Brawdy in October 1958 but continued to use St. Davids as a satellite. Finally, in January 1961, it relocated to RNAS Yeovilton (HMS Heron), RNAS Yeovilton where it operated as the Air Direction Training Unit (ADTU). Aircraft used here were the de Havilland Sea Venom, Sea Venom, Sea Vampire, Hunter and Sea Vixen. A further contract was won in 1953 when Airwork was appointed to operate Oxford Airport, RAF Oxford for the benefit of trainee radar operators at the RAF Sopley radar station situated close to Hurn. The Airspeed Oxford, Oxfords were replaced in June 1957 by fourteen Boulton Paul Balliols that provided a service to the trainee trackers and plotters of the School of Fighter Control that had relocated to Sopley from RAF Bolt Head in Devon. The Balliols remained in service with Airwork until 1960. In January 1957, Airwork Services Ltd was created to separate the defence support activities from the airline business elements, which continued under the original Airwork Ltd name. During summer 1959 Airwork moved its head office from Langley to Hurn. Its overhaul facilities were also centralised there. As a result, the operations at Blackbushe, Langley and Lasham were closed. In 1960, Airwork acquired the Aeronautical Engineering College in Hamble, and relocated it to its existing training operation at Perth Aerodrome where the revised enterprise became known as Airwork Services Training. In 1971 Airwork added an English Language School to the facilities at Perth to service a training contract with the Iranian Navy, Imperial Iranian Navy. Quickly the School's main business became language training for students due to train at either the Flying School or the Aeronautical Engineering College and it became part of Air Service Training. Pilot training at Perth ceased in 1996 but a successful engineering training college continues to this day under new ownership as Air Service Training (AST). Throughout the 1960s Airwork continued elementary and University Air Squadron flying training including training pilots of the Army Air Corps (United Kingdom), Army Air Corps at Middle Wallop in DHC Chipmunks and Hiller UH-12s. Airwork was also responsible for overhauling these aircraft. It also provided a complete flying grading service for the Royal Navy's Britannia Flight at Plymouth City Airport, Roborough, near Plymouth – something that under its present guise it continues to do today. The 1970s saw the introduction of the Scottish Aviation Bulldog, Bulldog, which gradually replaced the popular Chipmunk. The Beechcraft Baron, Baron training aircraft of the College of Air Training arrived at Hurn in February 1971 and Airwork assumed responsibility for their maintenance. At the end of 1978 Scottish Aviation Bulldogs of the Southampton University Air Squadron and DHC Chipmunks of No. 2 AEF relocated to Hurn and Airwork became responsible for their storage and maintenance. The Bulldogs were used for training by potential RAF pilots whilst the Chipmunks were used by local Air Training Corps, Air Cadets. In November 1972, the Fleet Requirements Unit was relocated from Hurn to RNAS Yeovilton (HMS Heron), RNAS Yeovilton and amalgamated with the Air Direction Training Unit to form the Fleet Requirements & Air Direction Training Unit (FRADTU). The word 'Training' was later dropped from the Unit's name to form the more familiar FRADU. The new Unit continued to use the Hunters, Canberras and, in the early days, Sea Vixens that had previously been used by the FRU and ADTU. In 1983, the FRADU contract was put out to competitive tender and was subsequently awarded to FR Aviation. Airwork quickly put this setback behind it and in 1984 was awarded a contract for the operation of No. 1 Flying Training School RAF, No. 1 Flying Training School RAF Linton-on-Ouse. It was then equipped with the Bulldog and BAC Jet Provost, Jet Provost. The Jet Provost was in turn replaced by the Short Tucano, Shorts Tucano in 1989. The company also managed to regain an element of the FRADU business, when in 1988 it obtained a contract to overhaul FRADU Hunters at Hurn. Whilst Airwork's airline activities had merged into the B&C-controlled BUA group as long ago as 1960, it was only in January 1980 that the company's remaining operations reverted to the original name of Airwork Ltd. At this time, Airwork also supplied air traffic control services at Exeter International Airport, Exeter Airport and operated Unst and Scatsta Airport, Scatsta airfields in Shetland. Airwork Services Training also continued to thrive at Perth Airport in Scotland. In 1991, the Britavia (formerly Aviation Traders) design office moved from Southend to the Airwork offices at Hurn once they were rebuilt following a serious fire in August of that year.

Overseas activities

Airwork operated the British Civil Air Training Mission to Saudi Arabia from 1947 to 1949, based in Ta'if, Taif, Saudi Arabia. This was a flying school with 3 Tiger Moth and 1 Anson Aircraft. Following the creation of the Royal Air Force of Oman, Sultanate of Muscat and Oman Air Force (SMOAF) in March 1959, Airwork was appointed to provide maintenance and technical support. The new air force initially consisted of Scottish Aviation Pioneer, Pioneer CC.1, Percival Provost, Provost T.Mk.52 and de Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver, DHC-2 Beaver aircraft. Growing problems with civil unrest and insurgency, primarily in the Dhofar region, during the late 1960s led to the expansion of the SMOAF. Initially this was through the formation of a squadron of BAC Strikemaster Mk.82 aircraft and also through acquisitions of the Douglas C-47 Dakota, C-47, de Havilland Canada DHC-4 Caribou, DHC-4 Caribou, Shorts Skyvan, Skyvan, Britten-Norman Defender, Defender, Viscount, BAC One-Eleven, One-Eleven and Vickers VC10, VC10 aircraft. The conditions in which Airwork staff had to work were some of the most challenging in the world with shade temperatures of over 40 °C commonplace and cockpit temperatures on the ground often exceeding an unbearable 80 °C. Existing working practices had to be radically amended accordingly. Airwork's support role in Oman was further cemented in the late 1970s by the arrival of over thirty Hawker Hunters. Two squadrons of SEPECAT Jaguars followed, further expanding the capability of the Sultanate of Oman Air Force (SOAF), the name of which had been adopted in 1970. During the early 1980s three C-130 Hercules, C-130H Hercules transport aircraft were ordered. Renamed Royal Air Force of Oman (RAFO) in 1990, more new combat aircraft were acquired in the shape of four new BAE Systems Hawk, BAE Hawk 103s and twelve BAE Systems Hawk, Hawk 203s delivered in 1993. In addition to providing aircraft maintenance and airfield communications support services to SOAF\RAFO, Airwork was also involved in providing radio and radar support to the Royal Navy of Oman (RNO) and ground radio for the Royal Army of Oman (RAO). Spares provisioning and personal recruitment were provided from Airwork's UK headquarters at Hurn and the nearby Supplies Division in Ferndown. The success of the Omani partnership led to Airwork securing similar support contracts in other countries. In Saudi Arabia Airwork was contracted between 1966 and 1973 to provide servicing and training for the Saudi's English Electric Lightnings, Hunters, BAC Strikemasters and Cessna 172s. Airwork also provided a similar service in South Yemen, Kuwait and Jordan. In Africa, Airwork developed a support presence in Nigeria, Sudan and Zimbabwe with aircraft from these countries also being overhauled at Hurn. During the 1960s Airwork carried out delivery flights of a number of Fairey Gannets to Indonesia. A large number of aircraft were also handled at Hurn during this time prior to delivery for the United Arab Emirates Air Force, Abu Dhabi Air Force, (Caribou and Britten-Norman Islander, Islander), Ghana (Shorts Skyvan), Qatar Police (Aérospatiale Gazelle, Gazelle helicopter), the republic of Singapore Air Force, Singapore Air Force (BAC Strikemaster), Yemeni Air Force, South Arabian Air Force (Bell 47G and Dakotas) and the Sudanese Air Force, Sudan Air Force (Jet Provost). The supply of spares and equipment from Hurn was central to activities with Bristol Britannia, Britannia, Canadair CL-44, CL-44 and Douglas DC-6 freighter aircraft being frequently used.

Takeover and current status

Following a management buyout in 1988, Airwork became part of the Bricom Group of companies. Airwork were part of the Nobel Group and administered through a bank. In 1992, a contract with the RAF at RAF St. Athan, St. Athan to modify a number of Panavia Tornado ADV, Tornado F.3 aircraft was to have far reaching consequences for the company. Serious damage was caused to the centre fuselage of 16 aircraft during the removal of rivets. When the extent of the damage became clear, the Ministry of Defence cancelled the contract with Airwork and pursued compensation from Bricom. Questions were asked in the Parliament of the United Kingdom, Houses of Parliament and the reputation of Airwork – at least in the UK – was dealt a grievous blow, (although this was not supported by the facts; the MOD and BAE Systems, BAe had produced incorrect engineering drawings). A multi-million pound sterling, pound compensation settlement was eventually agreed out of court, and the Tornado F.3 aircraft involved were repaired by new contractors, replacing the damaged centre fuselages with those from surplus Tornado F.2 aircraft, which had been earmarked for disposal. Short Brothers of Belfast, which had itself been bought by the Canadian company Bombardier Inc., Bombardier in 1989, acquired Airwork as a wholly owned subsidiary in November 1993, and the company became known as Bombardier Defence Services Limited. The VT Group subsequently took over the business – renaming it VT Defence – in a £30m deal in June 2000. Whilst in the UK, the former Airwork element of the business which traded under the name VT Aerospace, the name and brand of Airwork is still used prominently in Oman as ''Airwork Technical Services and Partners LLC'', and a new five-year contract to support the Royal Air Force of Oman commenced in January 2005. Airwork Technical Services LLC (ATS) was acquired in July 2010 by Babcock International Group during the acquisition of the

and the operation in Oman continues to this day in support of Aircraft Maintenance and Training for the Royal Air Force of Oman (RAFO) across its military aircraft fleets. Current activities include: *Technical Support Services – the provision of manpower for all aspects of aircraft maintenance related activities including: quality assurance, safety at work and on-the-job-training and mentoring of technicians. *Defence Supplies (Logistics) – the provision of equipment and spares, repairs, calibration and other services. *Technical Training – the training of managers, and instructors who carry out course design, accreditation, quality assurance and instruction in the Air Force Training College.

Notes

;Notes ;Citations ;Bibliography *'The Squadrons of the Fleet Air Arm' by Ray Sturtivant and Theo Ballance, (Air Britain) * *'Bournemouth's Airports – a History' by Mike Phipp (Tempus Publishing Ltd) * * * * * * (various backdated issues relating to the Airwork airline, 1928–1960)

External links

official website ‘VT Aerospace – a history of military flying training’ by Adrian Thomson CEng MBA BSc MRAeS MIEE, Business Development and Marketing Manager, VT Defence Ministry of Information Sultanate of Omanand http://www.acig.org/artman/publish/article_202.shtml Air Combat Information Group — Arabian Peninsula and Persian Gulf Database
*[http://www.scottishaeroclub.org.uk/archive.html Scottish Aero Club – Perth airport history]
— Elementary Flying Training Schools summary 1920–1945
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20070524205822/http://www.parliament.the-stationery-office.co.uk/pa/cm199697/cmhansrd/vo970311/text/70311w18.htm House of Commons Hansard Written Answers for 11 March 1997]
Lord Hansard text for 22 May 1997Airwork at the Aviation Safety Network Database
Aerospace companies of the United Kingdom Transport companies established in 1928 Defunct airlines of the United Kingdom Airlines established in 1928 Airlines disestablished in 1960 1928 establishments in England British companies established in 1928

History

Origins

RAF training

Postwar flying training

Air transport

Airline operations

Post-war fleet details

Accidents and incidents

Fleet Requirements Unit

Military training in the UK

Overseas activities

Takeover and current status

See also

Notes

Further reading

External links