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DOUGAL
on tour
ALL AT SEA MAY 2021
Solent based dinghy sailor David Henshall is a well known writer and speaker on topics covering the rich heritage of all aspects of leisure boating.
A Fairey long history Fairey boats may no longer be built, but the name remains hugely popular, and so we decided to delve into the story of this iconic boat builder, which goes back more than 100 years and begins, perhaps surprisingly, not on the water but in the sky. FAIREY PLANES
The big step change came in 1915 when the site was allocated to a new aircraft company created by Richard Fairey. Fairey, who was only 27 at the outbreak of the war, had already proved himself a clever and innovative engineer and one with a strong interest in flight. Driven by the demands of wartime, the Fairey company developed a range of planes and, though they also became a supplier to the Royal Flying Corp/ RAF, they were best known for their Naval aircraft. The rapid growth and development in aviation would slow, then come to almost a complete stop in the post-war
Beautiful to look at and bullet proof in construction – the Fairey Finn. Image: D. Henshall
T
here is a very good adage that says when something looks right, the chances are it will work right. Most people will have their own examples of this. From the Spitfire to the E-Type Jaguar or the 5o5 dinghy to the QE2, we all recognise that magical fusion of design and functionality. For those who love their boats, and in particular, their powerboats, there is one craft that, despite being some 50-yearsold, still clearly falls into this select, elite group that will always turn heads. The boat, of course, is the wonderful Fairey Swordfish, a curvaceous 33ft long masterpiece from the drawing board of designer Alan Burnard. These boats would come to represent the epitome of that unique building method that is so associated with not just the Fairey name, but with their long term presence in a large factory on the point of the northernmost shore that guards the entrance to the Hamble River. Yet the presence of the Fairey factory has its roots more than 100 years ago, as a new form of transport was just beginning to spread its wings.
The Navy was keen to get to grips with aviation with the Royal Naval Air Service being formed just before the outbreak of war in 1914, at which point it had more aircraft, not to mention more type of aircraft than the Royal Flying Corps! The area around the Solent quickly became a hotbed of Naval flying, and when war broke out the boatyard at Hamble Point was requisitioned by the Ministry of Defence.
years, with the 1920s being very lean years for the UK flying industry. Hamble was not immune to the effects of the downturn. At Hamble Point, Fairey hung on and at times clung on, with their travails being recounted in a barely disguised form in some of the books of novelist Nevil Shute, who had formed a long friendship through the shared interests in planes and boats. As the UK slowly emerged from the Great Depression, life down at Hamble Point would also pick up pace. Although it was easy for the site to do work on seaplanes, which could be launched from their large slipway, Hamble Point suffered from not being co-located with an airfield. Instead, the aircraft were placed on a ‘Queen Mary’ low loader trailer and transported a mile up the road to Hamble aerodrome, though with the narrow and twisting lanes that fed the village this produced some interesting and at times comical situations.
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reality for aircraft work at Hamble Point was changing fast. The days of wood and canvas had gone, to be replaced by aluminium, but in a strange twist of fate it was planes built in wood that would determine the Fairey future at Hamble. The technique of cold moulding was certainly not new in aircraft construction, with French aircraft being built of laid up and glued veneers back at the end of WW1, but with the global shortages caused by the 1939-45 conflict, moulded construction, often using early forms of plywood, became a necessity. However, this would push the current glue technology past acceptable limits, given that a plane could be operating in the frozen regions of the northern latitudes or the humid heat of the jungle. The scourge of moulded structures is delamination, not wanted at 400mph and 20,000 feet up! The answer was to build huge cylindrical steam ovens and ‘pressure cook’ the structure, resulting in the term ‘holt moulded’ as distinct from the existing ‘cold moulded’. At Hamble, a number of these ‘autoclaves’, together with the supporting boilers, were constructed making what had been a traditional boatyard look ever more like an industrial plant, but the writing for wooden construction was already on the wall for all to see.
LEFT: Instantly recognisable, a Fairey Classic with strong connections to Hamble - the Fairey Swordfish. Image: A. White
Today Fairey powerboats are rightly considered a true classic. Image: David Henshall
FLYING START
The first generation of aeroplanes at the start of the 20th century was made of wood and canvas, so it was little surprise when areas rich in boatbuilding expertise would be involved in the manufacture of the first aircraft. On the area known as ‘Hamble Point’ the Luke family, who had moved down to the South coast from Limehouse on the Thames, operated their boatbuilding business, and in 1910 became involved in the Hamble Hydrobiplane or HL1. Sadly, this plane was not a success, but the Solent would soon be full of the sounds of other aircraft. In 1913, Winston Churchill, in his capacity as First Lord of the Admiralty, came to the Solent and took his first ever flight, which even included him spending some time at the controls.
All images: Andrew Wiseman
