Fairey at Heaton Chapel and Ringway

1950s 1960s 1970s

Fairey Aviation was a major supplier of aircraft to the RAF & the Fleet Air Arm during World War Two. Besides building its own designs such as the Fairey Battle, Fulmar, Barracuda and Firefly it also sub-contracted for other companies such as Handley Page and Bristol. Heaton Chapel constructed 500 Bristol Beaufighter night fighters and 662 Handle Page Halifax heavy bombers. 100 Fairey Swordfish (shown left) were refurbished at Ringway, the Swordfish being famous for its part in the sinking of the battleship Bismark.

As an important facility to the War Effort the factory needed to be defended and so the factory was camouflaged & had anti-aircraft defences & armed guards.

Following WW2 the Fleet Air Arm sought a new twin-seat aircraft capable of performing anti-submarine warfare (ASW) and strike missions from Aircraft Carriers. In response Fairey developed the Gannet and it was notable for having two sets of propellers on the main shaft (known as contra rotating propellers) and folding the wings.

(Monochrome Photograph Bottom Left) - Fairey Delta 1 ready for road move to Ringway. Copyright R.A. Schofield

The Gannet served for many years and continued development enabled it to provide the Aerial Early Warning role. The radomes housing the AEW Radar were retrofitted to the Avro Shackleton AEW.

(Monochrome Photograph Middle Right) - 56th of 102 Gannet's to be built at Stockport Copyright Unknown

In parallel with production contracts, Fairey continued aviation research and Heaton Chapel built the Fairey Delta 1 (FD1) to investigate the then-unfamiliar qualities of the delta wing. The FD1 holds the distinction of being the first British-designed aircraft to be furnished with a delta wing. The picture shows it being delivered by road to Ringway.

Ground testing commenced at Ringway on 12th May 1950 and it made several high-speed taxi runs down the main runway before being dismantled and transported by road to RAF Boscombe Down. On 12th March 1951, the FD1 performed its maiden flight and continued to perform flight trials work until scrapped in 1956.