Spirit of Hamble - Derek James

Great Britain's Aerospace Industry has an interesting and intriguing history with many famous names emerging from activities which began in the early years of the twentieth century. The businesses that now operate as the Hamble Group were very much part of this evolution, continuing on into the twenty-first century.
This can be attributed to the involvement of a number of renowned aviation personalities; Henry Folland, Sydney Camm, Edward Petter, Peter Masefield and George Dowty. The ownership trail also introduces another string of famous names, including Folland Aircraft, Hawker Siddeley Aviation, British Aerospace and the Weir Group.
This book recounts the history of Folland Aircraft and of the Hamble companies by revealing the evolution of the activities now carried on at this site and at Christchurch. Like many of their contemporaries, they have been through interesting and taxing times and, as in the case of Aerostructures Hamble, the narrow avoidance of failure.
Although there have been several changes of ownership during the past decade, Hamble Group is now well positioned as part of Dowty, a member of the TI Group. The businesses are enjoying a resurgence as suppliers of specialised structural components and services for civil and military aircraft markets.