Records relating to aircraft manufacturing at The National Archives

by Dr Tim Powell, The National Archives

Introduction

From a very early date, the British state maintained a close interest in aircraft manufacturing, initially because of the military importance of the industry, later also as the Government was involved in the civil aviation sector, whether for purposes of imperial administration and control, or as overseeing nationalised industry. Consequently, the UK National Archives, the place of deposit for records of the British state, contains thousands of files that relate broadly to aircraft manufacturing, from inception, design, building and testing to operation and maintenance

It should be understood, however, that these files are not to be found in the records of any single department; over the years a number of departments of government have had an interest or involvement in the industry and series of records and individual files can be found within a number of departmental collections. Furthermore, as responsibilities frequently overlapped or were transferred between government departments, so the records for a single project can be found spread over a range of collections.

Records are transferred to The National Archives by government departments and therefore generally reflect the order in which they were received by The National Archives, and the placing of material within series is not always as helpful as one would wish. This makes focused research challenging but accurately reflects the range of interactions across government and its agencies. For example, an advanced search for ‘Concorde’ in Discovery, yields 5,054 results from documents held at The National Archives. Disregarding results for ships and enterprises called Concorde, of these about 3,300 are from the Board of Trade collection (BT). Of these, the great majority, but certainly not all, as we shall see, are within BT 242, the series on the Concorde project. It should also be warned that the listing of material ranges from the extremely detailed to the highly sketchy.

Main departmental collections

The main departmental collections offering significant documentation of the UK government’s relations with the design and manufacture of aircraft are:

  • AIR – Records created or inherited by the Air Ministry, the Royal Air Force (RAF), and related bodies
  • AVIA – Records created or inherited by the Ministry of Aviation and successors, the Air Registration Board, and related bodies
  • BT – Records created or inherited by the Board of Trade (including records of the Ministry of Civil Aviation)
  • DR – Records created or inherited by the Civil Aviation Authority
  • DSIR – Records created or inherited by the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research
  • FV – Records created or inherited by the Department of Trade and Industry (including the Ministry of Technology’s Air Divisions)
  • SUPP – Records created or inherited by the Ministry of Supply.

Certain divisions of material are of particular interest for this survey and appear as entries within it. Records of the Royal Aerospace Establishment (formerly the Royal Aircraft Factory or Royal Aircraft Establishment) are at AVIA 1, AVIA 6, AVIA 13, AVIA 14 and AVIA 71; and those of the Royal Airship Works are at AIR 11, AIR 12, AVIA 20, AVIA 24 and AVIA 25.

Air Ministry (AIR)

Air Ministry records of note include those in series AIR 60, monthly reports of the Directorate of Research, later Directorate of Research and Technical Development: 1919-25. This includes printed reports of research into aircraft and airships, many containing photographs and diagrams.

There are many other files to be found within this collection, much of it in series relating to the Air Historical Branch, AIR 1, AIR 5 and AIR 20, which were removed from their original context. A few examples must suffice: AIR 1/6A/4/36 Aircraft and engines – notes of Air Force requirements with table of performances, 1918; AIR 1/6A/4/47 Experimental aircraft and engines under design and construction, 1917; AIR 1/12/15/1/47A-H Historical Review of aircraft production, 1918; AIR 1/2596 Report on experimental work on Sopwith aeroplane, 1916; AIR 5/209 The development of large seaplanes and flying boats, 1920-28; AIR 5/975 Contract, agreements, etc., relating to the construction of the R100 by the Airship Guarantee Company 1924-30; AIR 20/4618-AIR 20/4621 Aircraft production, 1943-45; AIR 20/35 Design of ideal bomber for the RAF, 1937-38; AIR 20/2379-AIR 20/2381 Aircraft factory visits, 1940.

Ministry of Aviation (AVIA)

The Ministry of Aviation collection is particularly rich. Significant material may be found in particular in series AVIA 4, AVIA 15, AVIA 63, AVIA 88 and AVIA 93:

  • AVIA 4: Certificates of Airworthiness and Aircraft Registration, Representative Registered Files 1929-83. This series comprises selected files illustrating the procedure and regulations governing the issue of certificates of airworthiness and aircraft registration by the Air Ministry and the Ministries of Civil Aviation and Transport.
  • AVIA 15: Ministry of Aircraft Production and predecessor and successors: Registered Files. This includes records relating to shadow factories built from the mid-1930s to meet the urgent need for more military aircraft (this is also documented in files in AIR 2).
  • AVIA 63: Files, 1952-73, reflect the responsibilities of the Ministry of Supply and the Ministry of Aviation for the development, production and maintenance of civil and military aircraft. The files relate, for example, to mergers within and to policy on the aircraft industry; to supersonic aircraft; and to particular aircraft, such as the Trident, Britten Norman Islander and Airbus. Also included are the papers of the Transport Aircraft Requirements Committee, the Transport Aircraft Technical Committee and the Transport Aircraft Study Group. Early Concorde files can also be found in this series.
  • AVIA 88: Technical reports by the Aeronautical Inspection Directorate on aircraft frame and engine components and aircraft testing and navigation equipment.
  • AVIA 93: Registered Files of the Ministry of Aviation and successors: Directorate of Technical Costs relate to various costing matters in connection with Concorde, 1963-77. Papers of the Concorde Management Board are also included

Additionally, it is worth noting the records of the Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment at AVIA 18 and AVIA 69 and of the Marine Aircraft Experimental Establishment at AVIA 19.

Board of Trade (BT)

The Board of Trade collection includes records of the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Ministry of Technology. As noted above, many records documenting the development of Concorde, 1959-76, are at BT 242. Also of great significance is the BT 245 series, Ministry of Civil Aviation and successors: Air Services and International Relations Group: Minutes and Papers. A few examples may indicate the range of material. Some files relate to particular aircraft: for instance, material relating to the SR45 Princess Flying Boat, 1945-60, at BT 245/30 and BT 245/119-BT 245/130. At BT 245/144–BT 245/149 can be found records about the de Havilland Comet airliner, 1945-57; while material relating to the Brabazon, 1943-52, can be found in BT 245/156-BT 245/159. While there are such files on individual aircraft, there are also many records relating to wider policy and administration, for example, a file on aircraft ordering procedure and the respective responsibilities of Ministries of Supply and Civil Aviation, airways corporations and manufacturers, 1945-48, at BT 245/40.

Civil Aviation Authority (DR)

The departmental code DR covers records created or inherited by the Civil Aviation Authority. There are significant files to be found throughout the collection, but three series to be highlighted are DR 1, DR 5 and DR 7:

  • DR 1: Air Registration Board and Civil Aviation Authority, Airworthiness Division: British Civil Aircraft, Type Records, 1935-87. This series contains design records and reports of testing, performance and modifications of selected types of British-designed civil aircraft (including Concorde) produced by manufacturers for the Air Registration Board and the Civil Aviation Authority. They were used in the assessment of the designs’ conformity to the British Civil Airworthiness Requirements and as reference documents with regard to the continued airworthiness of aircraft.
  • DR 5: Aircraft Maintenance and Approvals Section and predecessors’ papers on the control of maintenance schedules for civil aircraft and on the approval of organisations in the UK and overseas for the issue of certificates of airworthiness for aircraft, engines etc, maintained or tested by them, 1928-88. There are also papers on the approval of aircraft operators and copies of maintenance manuals for specific aircraft.
  • DR 7: contains equivalent records, 1947-69, for British helicopters.

Much other material is to be found in this collection, such as DR 8, reports and papers of the Survey Department of the Air Registration Board and Civil Aviation Authority, including the inspection of aircraft under construction.

Department for Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR)

The collection of the Department for Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR) at DSIR 23 and DSIR 24 has the records of the Aeronautical Research Council (ARC) and its predecessors. It dates from 1909 with documentation of early research into aeroplane and airship design, for example at DSIR 23/162 are full-sized experimental constructions proposed to be made at Army Aircraft Factory, 1912. Although much of the work of the ARC was concerned with research and testing of components, there are also files on testing aircraft, such as Vickers Jockey (1933) DSIR 23/4164; on prospective aircraft, such as Saunders-Roe’s airliner P192 Queen DSIR 23/25724; visits to manufacturers, for example to the de Havilland Aircraft works in 1936 (DSIR 23/5958) and 1939 (DSIR 23/7390); and general files on aircraft manufacturers, such as Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft Ltd, 1947 (DSIR 23/16237). There is a great range of other subjects covered in these files, one example being structural reliability in RAF aircraft 1975 (DSIR 23/41738), and Concorde appears again, for example, at DSIR 23/41800 ‘Measurement and recording accuracies and resolutions of various parameters on Concorde production aircraft’, 1975. There is also material relating to strategic planning for future aircraft, for instance, material such DSIR 24/5, ‘Aircraft for 1930: notes on discussions and suggestions for research, design and development’ and DSIR 24/43 recording the Fleet Air Arm Research Sub-Committee’s consideration of large aircraft design, 1941-44. For a period, the National Physical Laboratory was also involved in aircraft testing, for example, in 1923-24 the English Electric Company’s Flying Boat M3 Ayr (DSIR 42/23-42/25).

Department of Trade and Industry(FV)

Several series are records of the Ministry of Technology and its predecessor and successor bodies’ Air Divisions, relating to civil aviation matters, including aircraft development and procurement, and the development of Concorde. FV 2 (1957-1988) relates to Air A Division and successors and contains files relating to the Concorde project, including its technical direction and management.

FV 17 is particularly important as it contains files of Air C Division which was responsible for the government’s relationships with the aircraft industry. The files relate to policy on the structure and organisation of the industry, with especial reference to Short Bros and Harland Ltd, and to Beagle Aircraft Ltd, and the nationalisation of the aircraft industry and the creation of British Aerospace. Thus FV 17/2 covers policy towards the air frame industry and the possible merger between the British Aircraft Corporation and Hawker Siddeley Aviation, while FV 17/94 relates to the development of the Trident Three airliner. There is also considerable material on the production of the BAC 1-11. Westland Helicopters are discussed in papers at FV 17/300-303 (1973-1977) and there is coverage of the relationship between British Aerospace and Airbus at FV 17/310-318.

Ministry of Supply (SUPP)

This series contains files of the Civil Aircraft Research and Development Branch of the Ministry of Supply and of the Concorde Division of the Ministries of Supply, of Aviation, of Technology, of Aviation Supply and of the Department of Trade and Industry, 1955-88. Much of the material relates to the early work on the supersonic transport project. Apart from technical papers there is more strategic material. For example, SUPP 29/34-SUPP 29/35 has the papers of progress meetings between BAC, Rolls Royce and the Air Registration Board, 1964-68, while at SUPP 29/79 is a record of technical liaison with BOAC, 1963-67.

Other records are on aircraft such as the early Airbus project and the prospective BAC 3-11 mooted when Britain withdrew from that project (SUPP 29/124- SUPP 29/127), the Hawker Siddeley HS 146 (SUPP 29/302-SUPP 29/311), the Britten Norman Islander, Short Skyvan and others.

There is much other material, for instance, about public ownership of the aircraft industry (such as at SUPP29/248-SUPP 29/250), future aircraft requirements (for example, a 160-200 seat short haul aircraft, 1967-73, at SUPP 29/184), V/STOL aircraft (for example, at SUPP 29/113- SUPP 29/118), and European and international collaboration in civil aircraft projects (at SUPP 29/200-SUPP 29/207).

Other departmental collections

The main departmental collections are listed above. However, this by no means exhausts the records relating to aircraft manufacturing.

The material from the Ministry of Munitions’ Department of Aircraft Production (MUN) is not as full as one might expect, and is much focused on component and other testing, but there are occasional records such as that at MUN 8/2 on the design and performance of the Vickers Valentia N3 flying boat, 1918-19, and MUN 8/3 on the Fairey Atalanta No.4 flying boat.

As would be expected, the Ministry of Defence (DEFE) collection has many relevant records, from consideration of general defence needs, such as advanced combat aircraft, 1968-69 (DEFE 13/943), to specific aircraft such as records relating to the project definition phase of the Nimrod airborne early warning aircraft (DEFE 72/11).

Returning to our first example of Concorde, there is important material to be found elsewhere, such as in the Ministry of Defence series DEFE 54 for the Procurement Executive and predecessors: Directorate of Technical Costs: Concorde Files, relating to various costing matters in connection with Concorde, 1963-77, including papers of the Concorde management board.

To return to Concorde, there is also material held under FV 2 (Department of Trade and Industry) 1957-88: files relating to the administration and financial control of the Concorde project, and its technical direction and management, created by the Ministry of Aviation’s Air A Division and its Concorde Division, and by the Concorde Divisions of the Ministries of Technology and of Aviation Supply, and Departments of Trade and Industry and of Industry.

One should also mention records from the Cabinet Office (CAB). These have largely been digitised and much high level discussion of plans to reorganise the British aircraft industry are to be found here. And, of course, the Concorde project. The meeting of Cabinet of 14 July 1960, for example, discussed a memorandum from Duncan Sandys MP, Minister of Aviation, titled ‘Supersonic Airliner’ on the development of a long-range supersonic airliner. The memo (CAB 129/102/11) considered submissions from the Bristol Aircraft Company and Hawker Siddeley Group and recommended further work on development of a Mach 2.2 airliner. At the cabinet meeting (CAB 128/34/42) concern was expressed that by the time it was produced it would already be overtaken by a Mach 2.7 or even Mach 3 airliner of the kind the Americans were thought to be considering.

Not all the information held by The National Archives is official correspondence and papers. The Ministry of Information (INF) material, for example, has a number of files containing visual material, such as the photograph INF 2/45/118 ‘Birth of a bomber’ – ‘The Air Ministry and Minister of Aircraft Production lay down their requirements. The manufacturers set out to fulfil them. The inner sanctum of an aircraft factory is the designing room where first ideas take form.’ Material at INF 3/1732 and INF 3/1734, for example, illustrates the interior of an aircraft factory during the Second World War.

Conclusion

This overview offers an indication of the wealth of material held at The National Archives and highlights a few of the series in which a researcher into aircraft manufacture in its broadest sense is likely to find material. It ranges widely from detailed technical data from testing to high-level government strategy and everything in between. However, for anyone researching a particular subject across or within the collections, the careful use of the Search, Advanced Search, Filter and Browse functions in Discovery, The National Archives’ search facility (at http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/), will be essential.

This section is Crown Copyright and may be used under the terms and conditions of the Open Government Licence, provided it is reproduced accurately and not used in a misleading context.