Ok, finally putting my money where my mouth is and here the Hood Report in all its glory.
The Assessment
Notional start date of 1952, need capacity for 16 projects at any one time at any stage of development to service four Operational Requirements annually (1 project taking 5 years from ITP to start production on average), peaking at 20 projects in 4th and 5th year of cycle. This peak load equates to 2 projects per design team.
Design & Development Categories
Class A: qualified design team led by a leading designer with capacity to work on multiple projects (at least 3), able to design aircraft over 40,000lb for civil and military use or conversions of existing aircraft, experience of jet aircraft, experience of cutting-edge aerodynamics and structures, access to extensive R&D facilities without reliance on RAE, access to flight test airfield with qualified test pilots
Class B: qualified design team led by a leading designer, able to design aircraft over 15,000lb for civil and military use or conversions of existing aircraft, experience of jet aircraft, knowledge of cutting-edge aerodynamics and structures, access to adequate R&D facilities with assistance from RAE, access to flight test airfield with qualified test pilots
Class C: qualified design team with capacity to work on multiple projects (at least 2), able to design aircraft over 15,000lb for civil and military use or conversions of existing aircraft, experience of jet aircraft, access to adequate R&D facilities with assistance from RAE, access to flight test airfield with qualified test pilots
Class D: qualified design team, able to design aircraft under 15,000lb for civil and military use or conversions of existing aircraft, no experience of jet aircraft, access to some R&D facilities but reliant on assistance from other firms/RAE, access to flight test airfield with qualified test pilots
Class E: able to design conversions of existing aircraft only, no access to R&D facilities and/or flight test airfield
Results
Class A: AW, Avro, Bristol, DH, HP, VA
Class B: Gloster, Hawker, EE, Fairey, Saro, VS
Class C: Blackburn, BP, Folland Percival, Short, Westland
Class D: Auster, FG Miles, Scottish
Class E: Chrislea, Elliott, FRL, Heston, PA, R&S, Slingsby
Production Categories
Class A: large works with latest equipment with capacity to work on multiple projects (at least 3), good number of skilled workers
Class B: large works with adequate equipment with capacity to work on multiple projects (at least 2), good number of skilled workers
Class C: works with adequate equipment for full scale production of one project, good number of skilled workers
Class D: low rate production only, adequate equipment
Class E: low rate production possible but mostly repair work, adequate equipment
Results
Class A: AW, Avro, DH
Class B: Gloster, Hawker, Bristol, VA
Class C: Blackburn, BP, EE, Fairey, HP, Percival, Short, VS, Westland
Class D: Auster, Elliott, Folland, Saro, Scottish, Slingsby
Class E: Chrislea, FRL, Heston, FG Miles, PA
Overall Ranking
AW
Avro
De Havilland
Bristol
Vickers
Gloster
Handley Page
Hawker
English Electric
Fairey
Vickers-Supermarine
Blackburn
Boulton Paul
Percival
Saro
Short
Westland
Folland
Auster
Scottish Aviation
Elliotts
FG Miles
Slingsby
Chrislea
Flight Refuelling
Heston
Portsmouth Aviation
Recommendations
Hawker Siddeley Aircraft to be encouraged to consolidate into two entities with two design teams at Chadderton and Hucclecote; Avro & AW and Hawker & Gloster. Production to be shared within the group. Close Bracebridge, Langley and abort Dunsfold construction. Kingston to continue for Hunter programme only, Squires Gate to be main Hunter line. Canberra sub-contract for Avro to go ahead. Armstrong Siddeley should be divested to de Havilland Engines or Bristol Engines. Merger of de Havilland Aircraft into Hawker Siddeley is not recommended.
de Havilland to be encouraged to take on a subsidiary, would suggest Bristol. DH Engines should either be divested to Armstrong Siddeley or to Bristol Engines, potential for complete merger of Bristol in airframes and engines. One factory would have to close, most likely Christchurch.
Vickers-Armstrong Aircraft to be encouraged to fully consolidate Vickers-Supermarine within the main company and use the South Marston design team to reinforce the Weybridge design staff. Modernisation and consolidation of factories required with good flight test facilities. Would advise moving Wisley production to Chilbolton. Possibility of transferring Christchurch from de Havilland.
Bristol to be encouraged to merge with de Havilland to increase their production capacity and allow better access to R&D facilities and with or without a merger of Bristol Engines with de Havilland Engines. Should be encouraged to maintain the helicopter team at Weston-Super-Mare and missile work at Filton for the de Havilland Group.
Handley Page to be encouraged to take on a subsidiary to increase their production capacity and strengthen the design team and product lineup, would suggest English Electric or Fairey. Handley Page (Reading) should be better integrated into the main company.
English Electric to be encouraged to merge with Handley Page to increase their production capacity and allow better access to R&D facilities.
Fairey to be encouraged to merge with Handley Page to increase their production capacity and allow better access to R&D facilities. Review whether guided weapons work is appropriate for this company.
Blackburn, Boulton Paul and Percival are all doing work of importance to the Services and the industry with some design successes. All are experienced companies but have insufficient resources to develop cutting-edge aircraft in sufficient scale, but they do have good manufacturing facilities. The recommendation would be for these companies to pair or for three to merge into one larger company. Boulton Paul and Percival would complement each other and are geographically close.
Saro has many interests, probably best if this company specialises in waterborne and rotary-wing aircraft.
Short Brothers & Harland should be maintained as a production site, maintain a small design team for conversion and special work, but should not be encouraged to tender new designs.
Westland has some experience, probably too far out of the way to merge realistically with the larger companies. Sikorsky licences have some merit, encourage them to focus on rotary-wing, may be assigned sub-contract production work.
Folland should not be encouraged with invites to tender and RTV.2 work should be withdrawn. Petter should be encouraged to seek proper facilities to put his talents to fuller use.
Auster should continue as is for now, some useful capability here. A merger with a Boulton Paul-Percival group might be beneficial later for the civil private aviation market.
Scottish Aviation should remain as a repair and overhaul provided and should be supported with such contracts from the RAF, RN, BOAC and BEA as appropriate. No more airframe production after Pioneer.
FG Miles, talented team but no facilities, would be better if an established company gave them employment, see no need to tender from this company.
Slingsby, no actions proposed, preferred source for all future ATC gliders.
Chrislea, Elliott’s of Newbury, Heston Aircraft, Portsmouth Aviation; no actions proposed, not considered as viable production units.
Flight Refuelling Ltd., should only be given non-aerial tanker related work if essential, sub-contracts on a commercial basis like any other aviation repair company, e.g. Marshall, etc.
Reid & Sigrist, to receive no more airframe contracts.
What Actually Happened? (Possible AH scenario)
Hawker Siddeley Aircraft formed A.V. Roe Whitworth Aviation Ltd. alongside the existing Hawker & Gloster Aircraft Co. Ltd., Hawker refused to close its Kingston offices and Dunsfold therefore went ahead (to much criticism by the Air Ministry). Armstrong Siddeley Aero Engines was not divested.
To the astonishment of many aviation pundits and writers, de Havilland acquired Bristol lock-stock and barrel. A new company was formed at Filton, de Havilland Aviatronics Ltd. for guided weapons developments. The first step was the transfer of RTV.2 work. Another new company was de Havilland Helicopters Ltd. at Weston-super-Mare. Bristol-de Havilland Aero Engines Ltd. was formed from the merger of both aero engine divisions and de Havilland Propellers.
The name of Vickers-Supermarine vanished into the history books as Vickers-Armstrong Aircraft became the main focus of the company. The MoS transferred Christchurch from de Havilland.
Messers Handley Page and Fairey did a deal and went into partnership, although both companies would continue to trade separately for several years. In another shock, F G Miles took over as Chief Designer at Reading.
The Board of English Electric seeing the way the wind was blowing and the unlikelihood of receiving new contracts, or even production orders for its P.1, decided to exit the fixed-wing aviation business in return for a commitment to support their move into guided weapons. Canberra production continued in the meantime, but much of the design work on the newer variants was transferred to Short & Harland. The P.1 programme was taken over by Blackburn.
Boulton Paul Aircraft was acquired by the Hunting Group and merged with Percival to form Hunting Aircraft Ltd.
Saro became the only specialist in flying boats in the country and one of three rotary-wing aircraft producers.
Short Brothers & Harland continued with work for other companies.
Westland sought to develop its Sikorsky helicopters, it still dabbled in fixed-wing but was also focusing on pressure cabin work and air conditioning systems.
Folland had its RTV.2 work withdrawn and transferred to English Electric. Petter resigned in disgust and went to design aircraft in India.
Auster carried on as before but sales dwindled and fabric seemed outdated. It began looking for investment and a new partner.
Scottish Aviation was upset about not having any more orders for the Pioneer and not being able to interest the RAF in its Twin Pioneer design.
