Aircraft Manufacture

[telpeedell]

Talking to an old friend recently we got round to discussing what aircraft are still being made in this country at the present time. Apart from bits for the Airbus we realised that we didn't know the answer to the question. I said the guys at the CBFS forum would know so here is the question. Just what are we making at the moment. Are we still turning out Tornadoes and Hawks, and maybe even more Harriers for ourselves and anyone else. Or is there some other production line in full swing that we have'nt thought of ? Any thoughts or comments would be appreciated. Regards.

[Garry Russell]

Interesting subject

There is the Merlin........Typhoon??

Not really sure on the light aircraft or military stuff

What's the status with the Islander??

Last I heard was they were building in Rumania and flying to Bembridge but are those the only ones?

[TSR2]

Hawks are still being made here I believe. And if you class the Nimrod MR4A as being manufactured?

[Garry Russell]

I wondered about the Nimrod.........I would tend to class that as a rebuild, but in the end it will onl;y be the fuse shell from the original and that will have been reworked
So maybe that could be classed as newbuild

[delticbob]

Spitfires/Hurricanes...rebuilt with new bits

Bob

[SkippyBing]

Tornadoes no, and the last Harrier was I believe a Sea Harrier F/A2 in 1998. Certain Typhoons are manufactured in the UK i.e. for the RAF and certain export markets.
Merlin and Future Lynx/Wildcat are being made by Wastelands.
Slingsby are probably making some gliders and Fireflies if they're still in business.

[Motormouse]

Islander/Defender is still in production...the kits from Rumania were 'repatriated' some time ago.

ttfn

Pete (from Tx!)

[Garry Russell]

Thanks for that Pete

[Paul K]

Its an interesting question, isn't it; what are we building ? I'm half way through Tony Blackman's 'Vulcan Test Pilot' ( he being the eponymous aviator ) and even 'Austerity Britain' seemed capable of building an awful lot. Not so now; how precipitous our decline.

[jonesey2k]

Even if, for example, BAE was to start producing airliners again it would be very hard to muscle into the market with the sheer number of manufacturers and models already available. Niche models would probably be the best bet but with few numbers.

Reaction Engine's A2 anybody?