| Industry | Aviation |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1912 (as Sir W. G. Armstrong Whitworth (Aerial Department)) |
| Defunct | 1961 |
| Fate | Merged withGloster Aircraft Company &Hawker Aircraft |
| Successor | Hawker Siddeley |
| Headquarters | Gosforth,Parkside,Whitley,Baginton,Bitteswell |
Key people | John Lloyd Henry Romaine Watson |
| Parent | Armstrong Siddeley Development  |
Sir W. G. Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft Company, orArmstrong Whitworth Aircraft, was a Britishaircraft manufacturer.
Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft was established as the Aerial Department of theSir W. G. Armstrong Whitworth & Company engineering group inNewcastle-upon-Tyne in 1912, and from c. 1914 to 1917 employed the Dutch aircraft designerFrederick Koolhoven (hence the "F.K." models).[1]
In 1920, Armstrong Whitworth acquired theengine and automobile manufacturerSiddeley-Deasy. The engine and automotive businesses of both companies were spun off asArmstrong Siddeley and the aircraft interests as the Sir W. G. Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft Company.[2] WhenVickers and Armstrong Whitworth merged in 1927 to formVickers-Armstrongs, Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft and Armstrong Siddeley were bought out byJ. D. Siddeley and did not join the new grouping.[3] This left two aircraft companies with Armstrong in the name – Vickers-Armstrongs (usually known as just "Vickers") and "Armstrong-Whitworth".
The most successful aircraft made by Armstrong-Whitworth in the inter-war period was theSiskin which first flew in 1919 and remained in RAF service until 1932, with 485 produced.[3]
In 1935, J. D. Siddeley retired and Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft was purchased byHawker Aircraft, the new group becomingHawker Siddeley Aircraft. The component companies of Hawker Siddeley co-operated, but operated as individual entities.[4]
In March 1936, the firstArmstrong Whitworth Whitley bomber aircraft made its maiden flight and a total of 1,814 were produced for the RAF, ending in July 1943.[5] During the war, Armstrong Whitworth also produced 1,328Avro Lancasters and designed theArmstrong Whitworth Albemarle reconnaissance bomber which was then made by A. W. Hawksley Ltd, part of the Hawker Siddeley group.[6]
Armstrong Whitworth built 281Avro Lincolns at Baginton from 1945 to 1951.[7] Then, during the 1950s Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft built manyGloster Meteor,[8]Hawker Seahawk,Hawker Hunter andGloster Javelin jet fighters at their Bitteswell and Baginton factories for delivery to theRoyal Air Force, theRoyal Navy and theRoyal Belgian Air Force.[8]
TheArmstrong Whitworth Apollo airliner was unsuccessful[9] and the company was eventually merged with another Hawker Siddeley company,Gloster Aircraft Company, to form Whitworth Gloster Aircraft in 1961. In 1963 Hawker Siddeley dropped the names of the component companies from its products, the last Armstrong Whitworth product, theArgosy, becoming the Hawker Siddeley Argosy.[10]
Date of first flight in parentheses.
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