BAE Systems Prestwick - BAE Systems Regional … · Aerospace/BAE Systems. It is now the home of Spirit AeroSystems which is a major supplier of wing components and other structural

BAE SystemsPrestwickProud past...bright future

AE Systems at Prestwick, Scotland marked the 80th anniversary of the founding of its predecessor company, Scottish Aviation

(SAL) on the 9th August 2015. Scottish Aviation was formally incorporated on 9th August 1935 having been founded by Group Captain David Fowler McIntyre and Douglas Douglas-Hamilton, Marquis of Clydesdale. They had achieved international fame two years earlier when they became the first men to fly over Mount Everest in specially converted biplanes. Their breakthrough into sustained high altitude flying in an open cockpit remains one of the pioneering feats of aviation. Eighty years later their legacy lives on with BAE Systems Regional Aircraft responsible for continued airworthiness, customer support, design and engineering for around 500 BAE Systems-built commercial aircraft in service with more than 150 customers across 70 countries. As well as many passenger and freight airline customers Regional Aircraft has engineering responsibility for the BAe 146 Atmospheric Research Aircraft and is helping operators in North America to convert BAe 146/Avro RJ airliners into waterbombers to fight wildfires. It is also capable of designing and producing

upgrades to all aircraft types because of its European-wide approvals. In 1935 enthusiasm for the Everest venture was strong in Scotland and both men were determined to create a new company ‘to establish the aviation industry in all its branches in Scotland’. The company vision was to undertake training, aircraft overhaul, design, manufacture and production, establish and operate an airport and run an airline. But the primary goal was to train much needed pilots for the RAF as war clouds gathered over Europe. The company bought 157 acres of land at Prestwick, with a further 190 acres for possible future expansion. Airfield facilities were rapidly constructed, a first contract was won from the Air Ministry, and flying training commenced in February 1936. By the time flying training had transferred to the Empire Training Scheme in Canada and South Africa in 1941, SAL had created a fleet of over 120 aircraft and had passed out 1334 pilots, 1994 air observers and some 1200 wireless operators. SAL had trained five times as many personnel as any other UK company. Profits from training enabled SAL to construct

and equip its first factory for repair and modifications on other aircraft. First orders were secured in 1939 and modification and sub-contract work on a range of Vickers, Blackburn, Hawker and Westland aircraft followed. More space was needed and the decision was taken to purchase the Palace of Engineering from the 1938 Empire Exhibition at Bellahouston Park in Glasgow and re-install it at Prestwick. This iconic building survives today and was one of the main buildings for SAL and then British

BAE Systems Prestwick Over 80 years of aviation excellence

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Aerospace/BAE Systems. It is now the home of Spirit AeroSystems which is a major supplier of wing components and other structural assemblies to both Airbus and Boeing. During the war years thousands of American-built aircraft were handled at the newly expanded Prestwick Airport and SAL became the prime location for servicing and modifying them to British operational standards. This was in addition to thousands of British-built aircraft and engines that were repaired and overhauled. Because of SAL’s earlier wireless operator training, radio communications facilities were in place at Prestwick, so transatlantic air traffic control was moved from Gloucester - and still flourishes today as the Scottish and Oceanic Area Control Centre. Post-war SAL set up Scottish Airlines which for fourteen years flew services on behalf of many international airlines and created national airlines in Greece and Luxembourg. First steps into aircraft design and construction came in 1947 with the Prestwick Pioneer and a few years later with the larger Twin Pioneer. Both aircraft had remarkable short take-off and landing performance and 146 were built. During the 60s and 70s SAL undertook aircraft aerostructures, maintenance, upgrades and modifications to both civil and military aircraft. A long-term contract with Lockheed meant the production of 773 aircraft sets of

C-130 Hercules fuselage panels and pylons. A 25-year association with the Royal Canadian Air Force was established for the overhaul and maintenance of its European-based fighter/trainer aircraft. From the 1970s to the mid-1990s SAL (which became part of British Aerospace in 1977) built aircraft such as the Bulldog trainer, the Jetstream multi-engine trainers for the RAF and observer trainers for the Royal Navy and then the improved Jetstream 31/32 18-seat mini-airliner which found world-wide acceptance. This was followed by the bigger 29-seat Jetstream 41. When BAE Systems was formed in 1999 the Prestwick unit became part of BAE Systems

Regional Aircraft, responsible for Jetstreams, the Hatfield and Woodford-built 80-112 seat BAe 146/Avro RJ regional jetliner and 64-seat Advanced Turboprop (ATP) and earlier HS748 turboprops. With the end of manufacturing, in 2002 Regional Aircraft was re-launched as a service and support business based at Prestwick, a task it continues to this day. Apart from the legacy of the airport and ATC centre, SAL and its successors designed and built just under 1000 aircraft, constructed thousands of aerostructures parts and maintained countless aircraft leaving a lasting imprint and an aerospace community at Prestwick that flourishes today.

19359th August - Scottish College of Aviation Ltd. founded at Prestwick by Lord Douglas-Hamilton (right) and David McIntyre, who together, in April 1933, became the first aviators to fly over Mount Everest

The College was set up in response to an Air Ministry requirement to increase the strength of the Royal Air Force

1936

September - Aerodrome construction begins

Company name changed to Scottish Aviation Limited (SAL)

First Prestwick Airshow held

‘Palace of Engineering’ relocated from the 1938 Glasgow Empire Exhibition, becomes No 3 factory

Modification and Maintenance work undertaken on military aircraft including; Avengers, Dakotas, Sabre and Starfighter jet-fighters. Contracts continue until 1978

Lockheed C130 Hercules centre section fuselage panels contract awarded (773 sets produced until 1982)

Silver Jubilee of SAL 1st flight of Jetstream T Mk 1 (26 built for the RAF and Royal Navy)

BAe Flying College established at Prestwick

Company Coat of Arms commissioned

End of hostilities - 1,200 Spitfires refurbished plus many other military aircraft types

1st flight of prototype Pioneer (59 built)

1st flight of Twin Pioneer (89 built)

1st flight of Jetstream 61

Nimrod MRA4 contract announced, Prestwick undertakes engineering projects associated with the programme

BAE Systems Aerostructures business acquired by Spirit AeroSystems

Indian operator Vistara becomes launch customer for BAE Systems’ Intellicabin®

in-flight entertainment system for its fleet of A320 aircraft

Specialist design and engineering services

provided to enable BAe146/Avro RJ

Airtanker conversions

Engineering contact for Mitsubishi

Regional Jet signed

MOD contract awarded for two BAe 146-200QC aircraft under an Urgent Operational Requirement (UOR)

1st flight of Atmospheric Research Aircraft (ARA)

BAE Systems Regional Aircraft relaunches as a service business

British Aerospace and Marconi Electronic Systems merge to become BAE Systems

1st flight of Jetstream 41 Hong Kong Government Flying Service

Search and Rescue aircraft

50 years of Turboprop

manufacture come to a close with

nearly 1,000 aircraft built at Prestwick

1st flight of Jetstream 41 (104 built)

Queen’s Award for Export Achievement 1985 and 1986

SAL becomes the Scottish division of British Aerospace

1st flight of Production Bulldog trainer (320 built)

SALchek - an approved overhaul, repair and maintenance service formed

1945

Modification and assembly contracts for American military aircraft undertaken

Prestwick requisitioned from SAL to the Air Ministry for war purposes

“for the specific purpose ofintroducing the aviation industryin its various forms to Scotland”

1955 1965 1985 1995 2005 2015

19391940

1941 19471953 1960

19621963

19711973

1977 19801988

19911994 1996 1997

1998 1999 2002 2003 2006 20102011

2012 20132016 2017

80 years of Prestwick aviation excellence celebrated 1935 - 2015

• Turkish new regional airliner

• Pilatus PC-12 and PC-24

EASA extends Part 21 G & J allowing Regional Aircraft

to work on any aircraft type

Avro RJ Long Term Maintenance Programme introduced Continued support via a Post Design Services (PDS) contract for the RAF’s Queen’s Flight BAe 146 CCMk2 and C Mk3 aircraft

• Future Small Payload Launcher (FSPL) proposalNew and ongoing

engineering projectsinclude:

• Typhoon• Tornado • Hawk

1st flight of ATPF Large Door Freighter

Inaugural Prestwick Cycle Challenge takes place (over £335,000 raised for charity over 20 years)

1st flight of prototype Jetstream 31/32 (386 built)

1975

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Over 100 years of

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Cover picture: Twin Pioneer prototype G-ANTP flying over the relocated ‘Palace of Engineering’ at SAL Prestwick circa late 1950’s.