The History of the Miles Aircraft Company

[Music] [Music] from the very earliest days of flying the county of berkshire has had a long and enduring connection with aviation and here at the museum of boxer aviation at woodley built near the perimeter of the old woodley aerodrome we take a look back over the last 70 years or so although the first recorded flight at woodley was in 1913 the earliest site used regularly for flying was at coley in reading which was used for training wartime pilots for the 1914 war the build up of the royal air force in the 1930s saw the establishment of many airfields in berkshire this was typical of the airfields existing around 1918 some had only grass runways while others were paved they also had a full complement of hangars there were 20 or so airfields within the old box of boundaries being situated at winkfield bray white waltham cockpole green woodley reading thiel hampstead norris harwell abington kingston bagpies shelling forward watchfield membry great shepherd welford grove greenham common aldemarstone and even smith's lawn at windsor was pressed into service during the great war in the year 2000 only one airfield remains the rest having been swallowed up by housing developments and industrial parks this remaining one is white we made waltham white welcome was used by the raf during the 1939 war it reverted to civilian use in 1945 it was then occupied partly by ml aviation making specialized aircraft equipment and by fairy aviation from 1955 to 1965 who manufactured various aircraft there including the fairy gannett the museum of berkshire aviation has a fine example of this aircraft that stands just outside the entrance to the main display hangar the gannett was designed to enable specification especially for operation from aircraft carriers i was privileged to fly this aircraft as a pilot in the fleet air arm it was a delightful aircraft to fly and quite unique in the navy in that it had two turboprop engines driving two four-bladed props on a single axis which obviated the usual asymmetric problems associated with twin engines it was designed to cruise on one engine which meant that it was very economical giving it great range the aircraft shown here was from 825 naval squadron at cold roads and i was in fact flying number 342 on that day [Applause] [Music] the story of miles aircraft began in 1925 at chorum in sussex when the 21 year old fg miles together with his younger brother george started to build a biplane partly to fg miles design in part of the family business premises the star family laundry however the aircraft never flew since before it was complete miles met cecil pashley an experienced airman they formed an instant rapport and became fired with enthusiasm to form a partnership and establish a flying school which would also give joy rides in paschally's avro 504k from these fields known as easter's farm the avro 504k was a two-seat trainer from world war one where their own rotary engine was considered to be one of the greatest trainers of all time over eight thousand were built [Music] realizing how vulnerable they were with only one aircraft and although money was very tight they bought enough spare parts to assemble another 504k when avro closed their factory at hamble in this picture pascha's plane is on the right and the partially completed plane is seen in the cannabis hangar [Music] in 1926 the business was split in two with the new southern aircraft company being a parent body operated by miles and the flying school carried on by pashley in 1929 miles designed and built at the new hangar his first completely new design to be known as a southern martlet it was first flown by miles in the same year and was an instant success eventually six were built to special order for clients this martlet with a jennet engine was built in 1930 and he's seen here being flown by f g miles in 1947 [Music] one of the markets was sold to maxine freeman thomas the wife of a southern aircraft director however when she and miles became romantically involved miles found the situation too embarrassing and so left southern aircraft and headed for south africa miles later returned then after blossom's divorce they married and set up a small office in seven oaks under miles tuition she became an excellent aircraft designer and working together they designed a small aircraft called a satire running parallel with these events during the late 1920s the firm of phillips and paris ran this car and cycle business in reading charles paris became very interested in aeronautics and in 1929 bought a large field in woodley which he soon equipped with a hangar workshop and restaurant he also started a flying school this was to feature for many years and was to grow continuously it was also to be responsible for the training of many raf pilots and eventually the whole concern became reading aerodrome on a cross-country flight in 1931 in the satire miles for reasons unknown landed here at woodley on meeting charles paris miles explained with enthusiasm these revolutionary visions for future design many of which he was to achieve in his lifetime [Music] [Applause] [Music] an agreement was finally reached whereby fg miles and blossom would design and manufacture prototype aircraft and phillips and powis would handle future production sales and distribution in 1932 when miles and blossom started work at woodley as a team one of the most innovative and vibrant aircraft companies of all time was born their first production was to be a low wing monoplane with two seats unfolding wings it was named the hawk and was to have a far-reaching effect on future designs it turned out to be easy to build and an excellent performer in the air word soon got around and in the first week 53 pilots of assorted skills flew the prototype [Music] miles and blossom's progressive modern attitude was also shown by their home being futuristic in appearance and specially designed for them by guy morgan and completed in 1934 this was a complete departure from conventional homes of the period in 1937 miles and blossom designed the famous magister a low wing monoplane based on the hawk major design it was the first low wing monoplane to be adopted by the raf as a training aircraft and well over a thousand were built many being sold to buyers all over the world with new aircraft designs following and greater expansion needed requiring a new factory phillips and powis converted to a public company with miles as the technical director rolls-royce also acquired an interest thus providing the necessary finance to replace this aging factory [Music] miles is seen here at the microphone with sir kingsley wood then minister for air at the opening of their new aircraft factory the kestrel was designed to meet the needs of a new fast training aircraft this was eventually developed to become the miles master miles was convinced that war was inevitable consequently he designed the master to provide the raf with an aircraft suitable for training pilots for the hurricanes and spitfires that were to become the mainline aircraft of fighter command the air ministry placed a two million pound order for masters in 1938 and due to this unique production line by september 1940 500 masters had been delivered [Music] as production grew so did the shortage of skilled personnel consequently blossom miles was made responsible for starting this training school solely for training young people to become aircraft technicians educated to the highest qualifications in aerodynamics stressing and design [Music] the success of the school must be judged by the fact that many top positions in british aerospace and boeing were filled by previous students from the miles aeronautical technical school [Music] miles movie news was created for the workforce by the photographic section it contained news from the works like this new 5000 ton press that was used for forming aircraft panels and components [Music] blossom was also conscious of the fitness of her women employees incidentally occupations and organize exercise classes for them [Music] so there were also thriving amateur dramatics and operatic sections putting on shows at the works local venues and at the reading town hall on seven occasions the bbc gave lunch outside broadcasts from the works workers playtime and works wonders programs were both featured [Music] boxing tournaments were also featured along with a cycling club concert parties an amateur theatrical group and even a mild silver band air shows at woodley were very popular and featured many aircraft of all descriptions on display seen at this show is blossom fg miles and their son jeremy in 1943 miles was approached by the director of scientific research concerning the possibility of designing a supersonic aircraft miles agreed and embarked upon a completely new and revolutionary design the m52 [Music] existing aircraft were used as testbed for research into extremely thin wind sections necessary for supersonic flight use was also made a wind tunnel test to design new tail sections all to verify the viability of the project full-size mock-ups were built containing many innovative designs such as the cockpit that could be detached from the aircraft in the event of an emergency which would then allow the pilot to parachute safely to earth this must have been the very first version of the ejector seat but miles was doing it nearly 60 years ago in spite of good progress towards prototype manufacture the ministry with no prior warning or explanation cancelled the whole contract [Music] the arrival of peace also brought its problems in the form of having vastly expanded facilities to meet large-scale wartime aircraft production and then cancellation of government contracts for aircraft that were no longer required at first the post-war factory was a hive of activity there were newly designed aircraft the gemini and the messenger but while these resulted in relatively small sails the miles aerovan did somewhat better [Music] miles aircraft limited herald their immediate post-war contribution to commercial aviation the aeroban the aerovan is readily convertible from a passenger transport to light freighter when this airplane was projected a compromise was made between obtaining this promotional film by miles was made to help boost the sales of the aero van freighter which sold in satisfactory quantities to the various transport companies which blossomed after the war in the hands of ex-raf pilots the aircraft were designed to take any cargo even concentrated loads as presented by the four points of contact of the wheels of this car seats could be fitted to convert it to a passenger aircraft and a conversion was also carried out in 1946 to ferry horses into the aerodrome at woodley [Music] the miles copycat was the first really successful office copying machine for drawings and documents introduced in the late 1940s it generated some 500 000 pounds during the first 18 months of sales fg miles obtained the license to manufacture the bioro ballpoint pen much development was needed but soon orders worth three and a half million pounds were in hand the future landmark at this time was the m60 marathon project which was intended to take the company into all-metal aircraft construction but there were storm clouds gathering [Music] unfortunately at this time there were severe financial constraints on the company with having to finance the new prototype projects and suffering under the post-war profits tax regime there were plans to raise more capital but the terrible winter of 1947 brought disaster to the company short time working due to fuel and component shortages and wooden airframes under construction being ruined due to the extreme cold preventing glue from setting [Music] in november 1947 samuel hogg the company auditor painted such a disastrous picture that the banks withdrew their support and called in their loans a receiver was appointed and shortly after the miles brothers departed all aircraft production stopped at the woodley factory which at that time employed approximately seven thousand people [Music] sir hanley page bought out the aircraft manufacturing parts of miles aircraft and pushed ahead with the development that was ultimately to lead to the production of the marathon under edwin gray chief designer at handley page the marathon drawings were modified to take advantage of the latest production techniques used at their works at cricklewood [Music] after pressure by sir hanley page a newly designed aircraft the herald was put into service by bea on its scottish highland routes the herald design was a follow-on from the marathon and although fitted with two rolls-royce dart engines it was soon discovered that the dart herald could not match the economy and versatility required compared to the dh-89 repeat previously being used consequently the order for 25 heralds was cancelled in spite of this there were some 45 heralds made on production and in 1968 there were 44 flying worldwide [Music] this rare film shows the herald on its promotional flight to south america the visit was headed by prince philip who also flew the aircraft for 99 hours of the 127 hour journey the aircraft was later charted to king husain of jordan for his honeymoon ship to morocco and now this actual aircraft has been fully restored and is on display at the museum of boxer aviation [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] the museum was founded with a grant of sixty thousand pounds from mokingham district council guided by major douglas goddard the keys were officially handed over by the mayor of wilkingham to gene foster q in april 1991 [Applause] soon after the handing over of the keys several exhibits began to arrive amongst which was the dart herald it was a sorry sight on arrival having been stripped of the instruments fittings and seats even the floor was missing and it was quite evident that a great deal of dedicated work would have to be done to bring it back to anywhere near its original condition here are just a few of the dedicated volunteers in 1993 after installation of some exhibits the museum was officially opened to the public with speeches by major goddard and john henderson the lord lieutenant there was also a fly past by world war ii and miles aircraft here today we have representatives from every aspect of the berkshire county and also nationally we are represented by mps mainly local mps by most of the civic heads from the county by representatives of industry and commerce who have supported us so well in the past of aviation of education and of the museum service welcome to you all it is a particular pleasure that i welcome lady joan barda the widow of douglas barda of legendary fame uh whose name is perpetuated embard away here and who was very closely connected uh with wood so i have great pleasure in asking the lord lieutenant to unveil a plaque and to pay the first subscription [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] so [Music] the these pictures were taken on the public opening day and give some idea of the large number of people that attended also the appearance inside the museum on that day the museum has come a long way since those early days and now some seven years later it is constituted as a registered charity and a dedicated band of volunteers give many hours of their leisure time to building up and maintaining the collection so let's have a look at some of today's exhibits the fairy jet gyrodyne helicopter first flew at white waltham in 1954 and it is the museum's second largest exhibit for the largest exhibit we shall have to go out of the hangar to the dart herald this was the first production dart herald and first flew in 1958 this is the herald at southand airport from where it was rescued when received the aircraft was a mere shell with all the fittings instruments and seating stripped out replacement components were obtained from a variety of sources many of them from second-hand aircraft which were no longer air airworthy today this aircraft forms an interesting part of the museum's exhibits [Music] the double member engine was manufactured by armstrong sidley and used in the fairy gannet which is on display just outside the museum entrance in addition to the main museum exhibits there is also a major collection of ml aviation products which have been collected together over the years helmets for all types of aircraft were manufactured by ml aviation while at white waltham many types of instrument panel and a whole variety of electronic and hydraulic control equipment were also built there the ml exhibits also include the sprite a surveillance system remotely controlled from the ground it is demonstrated here by ml personnel [Music] the sprite after takeoff will send back aerial pictures to the screen in the control van a real spy in the sky [Music] do [Laughter] [Music] [Laughter] [Music] [Music] [Music] for many years ml aviation has played a significant part in boxer aviation the company although no longer at white waltham manufactured an amazing variety of auxiliary equipment here is shown an inflatable shelter [Music] the company also manufactures tractors for the ground movement of aircraft [Music] these are the remains of the student jet trainer that crashed at duxford in 1985 after an engine failure on takeoff it was the only one produced and is now being restored in the museum workshops the workshops are in two porter cabins on one side of the museum and it is here that much restoration work is carried out here is a main spa constructed from scratch by volunteer craftsmen for the student aircraft previously seen in the museum this is how in 1996 the museum received the wreckage of a martinet which crashed in iceland in 1951 it was delivered to the museum by lori freight from reykjavik in the year 2001 reconstruction is well underway thanks to the volunteer craftsmen who in spite of the lack of original drawings are recreating this aircraft from pictures and drawings for all to see this is the engine of the martinet which sadly is too badly corroded to be fully restored although more than 1700 were built no complete aircraft exists and so this static display martinet will be the only one of its kind the museum is ever looking forward and is seeking funds to buy an extra hanger to expand the exhibition twenty thousand pounds is needed there is a scheme whereby you can become a crew member of the museum and for a small fee you can have free access for two people plus a newsletter why don't you join and try to help [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] you

Channel: Warbirds and Weather Vintage Cine Films

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Id: vSU1UOf7c2E

Length: 38min 4sec (2284 seconds)

Published: Thu Jan 20 2022