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Hawker/Hawker Siddeley
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The Company |
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Harry Hawker
got his start in the aviation industry with the Sopwith Aviation
Company which he joined as a mechanic in 1912. Sopwith went
out of business in 1920 and the H.G. Hawker Engineering Company
formed directly afterward.
Hawker was killed in an aircraft accident in 1921 but his name survived. Tom Sopwith took over the company renaming it Hawker Aircraft Ltd. in 1933. In 1935, Tom Sopwith formed Hawker Siddeley Aircraft as a holding company for Hawker Aircraft, Gloster Aircraft, Armstrong Whitworth and Armstrong Siddeley Motors. Famous Hawker aircraft include the Hart, Fury, Hurricane, Typhoon and Hunter. Hawker Siddeley added Avro and Avro Canada in 1955. The deHavilland Company and Folland were added in 1960. Engine operations (de Havilland Engines and Armstrong Siddeley) were sold to Bristol in 1961. In 1977, Hawker Siddeley, along with the British Aircraft Corporation and Scottish Aviation were nationalized and merged into British Aerospace. Raytheon purchased British Aerospace's business jet line in 1993 maintaining the Hawker name. In 2007, Raytheon sold its Beechcraft and Hawker divisions forming Hawker Beechcraft Corporation. |
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