Following a series of mergers and takeovers, the principal successor businesses to the company now trade as WFEL ( formerly Williams Fairey Engineering Limited ) manufacturing portable bridges, Spectris plc and as FBM Babcock Marine Ltd

It is proposed to change the company's name to the Fairey Co. Ltd., and to concentrate general engineering activities in the Stockport Aviation Co. Ltd., whose name would become Fairey Engineering Ltd.

However, these businesses were disposed of in 1986 as part of Pearson wishing to concentrate on core activities ; acquired by Williams Holdings they became Williams Fairey Engineering Ltd.

These were captured by some of the most prestigious names in the UK aerial survey industry, including Fairey, Huntings, Simmons, Clyde and BKS Engineering Surveys – all part of Blom Aerofilms ’ s UK heritage.

After the end of aircraft production the Heaton Chapel works became Fairey Engineering Ltd and began production of medium and heavy engineering including portable bridges for military and emergency services use, notably the Medium Girder Bridge.

Fairey Engineering Ltd also made Nuclear Reactor cores and fuelling machines for Dungeness B and Trawsfynydd.

The company became Williams Fairey Engineering in 1986, and was then taken over by Kidde part of the American giant United Technologies Corporation.

Production was therefore invested in Fairey Engineering Ltd but by 1962 this had been transformed into a 50 / 50 joint venture with the British Aircraft Corporation ( Holdings ) Ltd known as BAC ( AT ) LTD, with offices at 100 Pall Mall, London SWI.

In 1960, Fairey announced an agreement between Fairey Engineering Ltd. and the Del Mar Engineering Laboratories, Los Angeles, California, to distribute a range of subsonic and supersonic towed target systems ( RADOP ) for air-to-air and surface-to-air guided weapon training in Europe, Africa, the Middle East, the Commonwealth and the UK.

The Weapon Division of Fairey Engineering Ltd was responsible in the UK for the Jindivik Mk 2B Pilotless target aircraft.

Fairey Engineering had the sales agency for all countries outside the US, and was also been appointed by the Australian Department of Supply's to assist in the introduction of the Malkara to operational service and to design and produce modifications.

The £ 89 million contract was awarded in August 1965 to Atomic Power Construction (' APC '), a consortium backed by Crompton Parkinson, Fairey Engineering, International Combustion and Richardsons Westgarth.

Swingfire was developed by Fairey Engineering Ltd and the British Aircraft Corporation.

In 1986 Fairey Engineering was taken over by Williams Holdings and became Williams Fairey Engineering Ltd.

* 1933: A local trade directory lists for Heathrow these: Mrs. Waddell ( Cain's Farm house ); < u > farmers or market gardeners </ u >: Harry Curtis ( Heathrow Farm ), George Dance ( a small house on Heathrow Road nearly opposite the Plough and Harrow pub ), William Howell ( Bathurst ), Frederick Philp ( Heathrow Hall ), Sidney Whittington ( Perry Oaks ), David and John Wild ( Croft House ); < u > other </ u >: Heathrow Sand & Gravel Co ( Colnbrook ) Ltd., Edgar Charles Basham ( The gazette misprinted his surname as Sasham ) ( publican at the Plough and Harrow pub ), Fairey Aviation.

C. R. Fairey and the Fairey Aviation Co., Ltd., was awarded £ 4, 000 for work on the Hamble Baby seaplane.

On 13 March 1959 Flight reported that Fairey Aviation Ltd was to be reorganised following a proposal to concentrate aircraft and allied manufacturing activities in the United Kingdom into a new wholly owned subsidiary called the Fairey Aviation Co. Ltd.

* Fairey Hydraulics Ltd, Heston, Hydraulic power controls and filters for aircraft ; – Sold in 1999 to a management buyout, name changed to Claverham Ltd, bought in 2001 by Hamilton Standard.

* Fairey Nuclear Ltd, Heston, Nuclear components and light engineering ; see also Dungeness nuclear power station

* Fairey Industrial Products Ltd, Heston, Management company ;

* Fairey Filtration Ltd, Heston, Industrial filters ;

* Fairey Winches Ltd, Tavistock, Vehicle overdrives, winches and hubs ;

* Fairey Marine Holdings Ltd, Hamble, Management company ;

* Fairey Marine ( East Cowes ) Ltd, East Cowes, Ship and boat building ;

* Fairey Exhibitions Ltd, Hamble, Exhibition stand contractors ;

* Fairey Marine Ltd, Hamble, Boat building and repair ;

Stockport / Ringway-built Fairey Barracuda TF. V at Manchester Airport in May 1946

Fairey Stockport / Ringway-built Gannet AS. 4 in 1956

The Fairey factory at Heaton Chapel, Stockport can trace its roots back to when Crossley Bros. Ltd having had by the end of 1916 supplied large numbers of tenders and aero engines to the Royal Flying Corps acquired premises at High Lane, Heaton Chapel to expand production.

* Fairey Band, is a brass band based in Heaton Chapel in Stockport, Greater Manchester

In 1997, Deller embarked on Acid Brass, a musical collaboration with the Williams Fairey Brass Band from Stockport.

The engineering interests were strengthened in 1980 by the acquisition of the high technology businesses of Fairey, and their merging with Pearson's other engineering interests in 1982.

Birmingham engineering works later diversify with all manner of industries relating to the development and manufacture of aircraft components including assembly of whole planes during war years such as Spitfires, Hawker Hurricanes, Fairey Battle light bombers, Mercury and Pegasus aero engines, Short Stirling four-engined heavy bombers and Avro Lancasters ( towards the end of World War II ).

The Plover had a good performance but only six were built for service in 1923 ; the Royal Navy preferring the Fairey Flycatcher despite its lower speed.

In 1929, Fairey Aviation bought of land just southeast of Heathrow hamlet, to establish an airfield for flight testing ; later purchases gradually enlarged this airfield to about.

* Fairey Yacht Harbours Ltd, Hamble, Boat handling, berthing and storage ;

* Fairey Surveys Ltd, Maidenhead, Aerial and geophysical survey and mapping ;

* Fairey Surveys ( Scotland ) Ltd, Livingston, Aerial and geophysical survey and mapping ;

At noon, 32 Fairey Battles attack German ground forces in Luxembourg, losing 13 aircraft shot down and the rest damaged ; a second raid by 32 Battles sees the loss of 10 more aircraft.

On February 12, six Fleet Air Arm Fairey Swordfish – all of which are shot down ; their commander, Lieutenant Commander Eugene Esmonde receives a posthumous Victoria Cross for the attack – and some Royal Air Force Coastal Command Beauforts attempt torpedo attacks, but score no hits.

Fairey Swordfish torpedo bombers, 12 in total, flew into the Fleet Air Arm ( FAA ) base at Hal Far ; the 767 Training Squadron, who had escaped southern France following the French capitulation.

Until the return of the Luftwaffe over Malta, the RAF defenders had claimed 199 aircraft shot down from June 1940 — December 1941, while losses were at least 90 Hurricanes, three Fairey Fulmars, one Gladiator in air combat ; ten more Hurricanes and one Gladiator destroyed in accidents, and many more destroyed on the ground.

On 3 June 1940 a Fairey Battle was taken for an unauthorised flight by an unqualified pilot and crashed after several failed landing attempts ; the aircraft was destroyed and the pilot killed.

Fairey Albacores of the Royal Navy dropped flares to illuminate targets for Vickers Wellington medium bombers and for the artillery ; also, the minefields that were thought to be thin turned out to be deep.

About 150 of these were operated by the army and included Dewoitine D. 27 and Curtiss P-36 Hawk fighters ; Breguet 19, Fairey III and Stearman 76 D1 reconnaissance planes ; Northrop A-17, North American NA-16, Martin B-10 heavy combat craft, Focke-Wulf Fw 58 as multi-role planes, and Lockheed Model 14 Super Electra, Junkers Ju 52, Douglas Dolphin, Curtiss T-32 Condor II and Fairchild 82 transporters.

The Fairey FD2 experimental aircraft had used a droop nose ; when one was converted into the BAC 221 as a testbed for the Concorde wing shape, the droop nose was carried over.