The Gloster Aircraft Company was formed at Hucclecote ( Gloucester ) in 1915 as the Gloucestershire Aircraft Company. In 1926 the name of the company was abbreviated to Gloster because customers outside of the United Kingdom found the original name too difficult to pronounce. The company produced the Gloster Grebe; Gloster Gladiator; Hawker Hurricane; Hawker Typhoon; Gloster Meteor and Gloster Javelin and its test runway became famous for the first flight of Sir Frank Whittle's turbo-jet aircraft. Hucclecote is a village in Gloucestershire, England situated on the old Roman road connecting Gloucester with Barnwood, Brockworth and Cirencester. ... Gloucester (pronounced ) is a city and district in south-west England, close to the Welsh border. ... This is a list of aviation-related events from 1915: Events January January 19 - First Zeppelin raid on the UK by the German Navy. ... 1926 was a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... Developed from a two seat trainer, the Gloster Grouse, Glosters Grebe was the Royal Air Forces first post World War I fighter, entering service in 1923. ... The Gloster Gladiator was a biplane fighter, used by the Royal Air Force and the Royal Navy, during World War II. The aircraft had a top speed of around 414 km/h. ... The Hawker Hurricane is a fighter design from the 1930s which was used extensively by the Royal Air Force during the Battle of Britain. ... The Typhoon was a British single-seat fighter aircraft, produced by Hawker Aviation starting in 1941. ... The Gloster Meteor was the RAFs first jet fighter aircraft, introduced into service only weeks after the Messerschmitt Me 262 in August 1944. ... The Gloster Javelin was an interceptor aircraft that served with Britains Royal Air Force in the late 1950s and most of the 1960s. ... Frank Whittle speaking to employees of NASA Glenn Research Center, USA, in 1946 Sir Frank Whittle (June 1, 1907 - August 9, 1996) was a Royal Air Force officer who invented the jet engine. ... Jet engine diagram Turbojets are the simplest and oldest kind of general purpose jet engine. ...

Brief history

The Gloster Aircraft Company was formed at Hucclecote, in 1915 as the Gloucestershire Aircraft Company. Hucclecote was the second in a series of villages located along an old Roman Road following a more-or-less straight line to the inland port city of Gloucester, and because of the land availability the company was able to build its own runway to test its aircraft. Hucclecote is a village in Gloucestershire, England situated on the old Roman road connecting Gloucester with Barnwood, Brockworth and Cirencester. ... This is a list of aviation-related events from 1915: Events January January 19 - First Zeppelin raid on the UK by the German Navy. ... A Roman road in Pompeii The Romans, for military, commercial and political reasons, became adept at constructing roads. ... Gloucester (pronounced ) is a city and district in south-west England, close to the Welsh border. ...

1934 Amalgamation

In 1934 the company was amalgamated with Hawker Aviation Ltd, though still producing aircraft under its own name. In that same year the company produced the famous Gloster Gladiator biplane. This is a list of aviation-related events from 1934: Events January Soviet pilots Fedossenko, Wassenko and Usyskin take the stratosphere-balloon Ossoaviachim I to 22,000 m (72,160 ft). ... Hawker-Siddeley was a British aircraft manufacturing company. ... The Gloster Gladiator was a biplane fighter, used by the Royal Air Force and the Royal Navy, during World War II. The aircraft had a top speed of around 414 km/h. ...

1939-1945 WWII production

In 1939 the company built 1,000 Hawker Hurricanes in the first 12 months of World War II and it delivered its last of 2,750 Hurricanes in 1942. Production was then switched to building 3,330 Hawker Typhoons for the Royal Air Force. This is a list of aviation-related events from 1939: Events January January 12 - the RAF Auxiliary Air Force Reserve is formed February February 9 - Alex Henshaw sets a new speed record for the round trip between England and Cape Town in 4 days 10 minutes in a Percival Mew... The Hawker Hurricane is a fighter design from the 1930s which was used extensively by the Royal Air Force during the Battle of Britain. ... World War II was a truly global conflict with many facets: immense human suffering, fierce indoctrinations, and the use of new, extremely devastating weapons like the atom bomb World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a mid-20th-century conflict that engulfed much of the globe... This is a list of aviation-related events from 1942: Events January January 30 - Canadian Pacific Air Lines formed by the acquisition and merger of Arrow Airways and Canadian Airways, along with all the various subsidiaries of the latter. ... The Typhoon was a British single-seat fighter aircraft, produced by Hawker Aviation starting in 1941. ... The Royal Air Force (often abbreviated to RAF) is the air force branch of the UK Armed Forces. ...

1941 Turbo-jet

On April 8, 1941 the first test flight of the Gloster E28/39 with a turbo-jet engine invented by Sir Frank Whittle took off from the companies airfield at Hucclecote. This formed the basis for the Gloster Meteor, the only jet to be used by the Allied Forces during World War II. April 8 is the 98th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (99th in leap years). ... This is a list of aviation-related events from 1941: Events Jacqueline Cochran became the first woman to fly a bomber across the Atlantic Ocean. ... The Gloster E.28/39, (also referred to as the Gloster Whittle, Gloster Pioneer, or Gloster G.40) was the first jet engined aircraft to fly in the United Kingdom. ... Frank Whittle speaking to employees of NASA Glenn Research Center, USA, in 1946 Sir Frank Whittle (June 1, 1907 - August 9, 1996) was a Royal Air Force officer who invented the jet engine. ... The Gloster Meteor was the RAFs first jet fighter aircraft, introduced into service only weeks after the Messerschmitt Me 262 in August 1944. ... In general, allies are people or groups that have joined an alliance and are working together to achieve some common purpose. ...

1945 World Record

In 1945 it gained a World Speed Record of 606 mph and it was eventually put into service by 12 nations. This is a list of aviation-related events from 1945: // Events January January 1 - the Luftwaffe begins targeting Allied airfields in Europe as Operation Bodenplatte February February 13-15 - Allied bombers attack Dresden with incendiary weapons, destroying most of the city and killing some 50,000 people. ...

In 1952 the two seat, delta-winged Gloster Javelin was developed as an all weather fighter that could fly above 50,000 feet at almost the speed of sound. This modern aircraft proved to be too heavy to take off from the short airfield in Hucclecote, and was instead fitted out to the bare minimum and given a very small fuel load. It was then flown in a short hop to RAF Moreton Valence 3 miles to the South, where the aircraft would be completed. Parts of this old airfield can still be seen as you drive on the M5 motorway just South of Junction 12. The motorway was constructed parallel to the runway and at either end, large concrete sections of taxiway can be seen angling off the carriageway.It was this shortcoming of the facilities, along with the rationalisation of the British aircraft industry, that would lead to the demise of the Gloster Aircraft Company. This is a list of aviation-related events from 1952: // Events January January 5 - Pan Am commences trans-atlantic freight services. ... The delta-wing is a wing planform in the form of a triangle. ... The Gloster Javelin was an interceptor aircraft that served with Britains Royal Air Force in the late 1950s and most of the 1960s. ...

1962 demise

Gloster Aircraft Company closed in 1962. The runway, while still visible from the air, has been partially obstructed by buildings on what is now the Gloucester Trading Estate. Many of the firms based on the estate are housed in former hangars. This is a list of aviation-related events from 1962: Events January US Army CH-21 Shawnees are dispatched to Vietnam, the first US military aircraft to be deployed there January 10-11 - a B-52 Stratofortress is flown from Okinawa to Madrid, establishing a new distance record of 12...

References

External sources

• History of the Gloster Aircraft Company at Brockworth