I can't help thinking that there are some rose tinted glasses about our history of aircraft building. Empire of the Clouds looks at it in part - gross company mismanagement and waste feature.
Stanley Hooker, chief engineer of the Bristol Aeroplane Company's engine division, believed the "Bristol lunch" to be symptomatic of all that was going wrong with the industry. This meal, he said, was the "biggest obstacle to Bristol's progress". How so? "In each factory, the top man had his own little private dining room. We would start with hot canapés while we partook of sherry. Then we would sit down to a multi-course lunch ending with cheese, fruit and coffee – and, on occasion, brandy." Management of the school of Terry-Thomas proved, far too often, to be little more than a "shower", tucking into club-like luncheons while the industry fell to earth around them.
There have been some pretty sh!te aircraft from the British Aircraft Industry as well. Here are some that spring to mind:
- BE9. This had the pilot in the back, then the engine and propeller and then a gunner/observer in the front. Hugh Dowding later mentioned it was probably one of the most dangerous aircraft he ever saw.
- Boulton Paul Defiant. Awful day fighter. Got hammered once the Luftwaffe worked out it had no forward firing capability.
- Blackburn Roc. Again an awful fleet defence aircraft like the Defiant with no forward firing guns. Apparently the guns didn't fire properly when the aircraft was turning.
- Fairey Battle. Hopelessly outclassed at the start of the war. We lost over 100 in a week and sadly aircrew we so desperately could have used in the Battle of Britain.
There are many more. In recent years there has been Nimrod AEW, Harrier GR5 (needed upgrading to go to war), Nimrod MRA4, TSR2, Tornado F2, Mantis, Herti and others; so for every successful aircraft there were probably half a dozen failures - not good for sustainable business, which is why so many are no longer with us.
B Word