Hawker Siddeley was a group of British manufacturing companies engaged in aircraft production. Hawker Siddeley combined the legacies of several British aircraft manufacturers, emerging through a series of mergers and acquisitions as one of only two such major British companies in the 1960s. In 1977, Hawker Siddeley became a founding component of the nationalised British Aerospace (BAe). Hawker Siddeley also operated in other industrial markets, such as locomotive building (through its ownership of Brush Traction) and diesel engine manufacture (through its ownership of Lister Petter). The Company was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.
Hawker Siddeley Aircraft was formed in 1935 as a result of the purchase by Hawker Aircraft of the companies of J. D. Siddeley, the automotive and engine builder Armstrong Siddeley and the aircraft manufacturer Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft. At this time, Hawker Siddeley also acquired A.V. Roe & Company (Avro), Gloster Aircraft Company (Gloster) and Air Training Services. The constituent companies continued to produce their own aircraft designs under their own name as well as sharing manufacturing work throughout the group.
The Hawker Siddeley HS 748 is a medium-sized turboprop airliner originally designed by the British firm Avro in the late 1950s as a replacement for the aging DC-3s then in widespread service as feederliners. Avro concentrated on performance, notably for STOL operations, and found a dedicated market. 380 aircraft were built by Hawker Siddeley. A larger, stretched development of the HS 748, the BAe ATP, attempted to compete with the de Havilland Canada Dash 8 but saw a limited production run.
The original 748 design was started in 1958, after the infamous Duncan Sandys 1957 Defence White Paper ended most military manned-aircraft development in the UK, and Avro decided to re-enter the civilian market.
The Vickers Viscount had the larger end of the short-haul market, and Avro therefore decided to design a smaller regional airliner powered by two Rolls-Royce Dart turboprop engines, intended to replace the many DC-3 Dakotas that were by then reaching the end of their economic lifespan. Original plans were for a 20-30 seat aircraft with a similar configuration to the Fokker F27, but talks with potential customers soon led to a low-wing 40 seat design being chosen for the 748 project.
The British Aerospace 125 is a twin-engine mid-size corporate jet. Originally developed by de Havilland and initially designated as the DH125 Jet Dragon, it entered production as the Hawker Siddeley HS.125, which was the designation used until 1977. Later on, more recent variants of the type were marketed as the Hawker 800.
The type proved quite popular overseas; more than 60% of the total sales for the aircraft were to North American customers. It was also used by the Royal Air Force as a navigation trainer, as the Hawker Siddeley Dominie T1, and was operated by the United States Air Force as a calibration aircraft, under the designation C-29.
In 1961, de Havilland began work upon a small business jet, then known as the DH.125 Jet Dragon, which was intended to replace the piston engined de Havilland Dove, a successful business aircraft and light transport. Prior to the start of the project, de Havilland had determined that a successful business jet would require several variables to be met, including a range of at least 1,000 miles, the speed and cost factors of a suitable jet engine to outperform turboprop-propelled competitors, and an engineering philosophy that favored reliability and conventionality. The design team settled on a twin-engine aircraft with the engines mounted on the rear fuselage, the Armstrong Siddeley Viper turbojet powerplant was also selected to power the type.