Heston Aircraft
Comper’s successor at Heston built a handful of elegant one-offs, including a Napier Sabre-powered racer meant to take the world speed record, then spent the war fitting cameras to reconnaissance Spitfires.
Heston Aircraft: the company and the aircraft that made its name
Out of Comper’s ashes
Heston Aircraft was born on 10 August 1934 when the struggling Comper Aircraft Company at Heston Aerodrome was renamed and handed to a new board under Sir Norman Watson. George Cornwall became chief designer and Edmund Hordern chief test pilot. Its first design, the Heston Phoenix, was a sleek five-seat retractable-undercarriage monoplane for private owners; six were completed between 1935 and 1939. Hordern also designed the twin-engined Autoplane with the Duke of Richmond and Gordon.
Chasing the world speed record
The most spectacular project was the Type 5 Racer, conceived by Napier around its secret 24-cylinder Sabre engine and funded privately by Lord Nuffield to beat the world air speed record, with an estimated 480 mph in prospect. Built of wood with compregnated spars, it first flew on 12 June 1940. After five minutes the engine overheated, test pilot G.L.G. Richmond stalled it at about 30 feet, and it was wrecked. The second machine, 80 per cent complete, was abandoned.
Spitfires, Sea Hornets and steps
The war made Heston a repair and modification firm. From late 1940 it converted Spitfires for photographic reconnaissance, fitting cameras, extra fuel and modified canopies. After the war it turned Hornets into Sea Hornets for de Havilland, then traded as Hestair, building components, Comet passenger steps and servicing docks.
Heston Aircraft in numbers
Společnost
- Stručně řečeno
- Založeno 1934
- Renamed from Comper Aircraft on 10 August 1934
- Board led by Sir Norman Watson
- Wartime repair and modification contractor
Výroba
- Nejznámější pro
- Heston Phoenix
- Six Phoenix cabin monoplanes
- Napier-Heston Type 5 Racer
- T.1/37 trainer, JC.6, Boulton Paul P.92/2
Dnes
- Teď
- Zaniklý
- Later traded as Hestair in ground equipment and components
Čísla
- Heston Phoenix built
- 61935–1939
- Type 5 Racer estimated top speed
- 480 mph
Every notable Heston Aircraft aircraft
| Letadlo | Role | První let | Postavený | Postavení | Poznámka |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Heston Phoenix | Five-seat cabin monoplane | 1935 | 6 | V důchodu | |
| Hordern-Richmond Autoplane | Twin-engine two-seater | 1936 | 1 | V důchodu | |
| Heston T.1/37 | Prototyp trenéra | 1938 | 2 | V důchodu | Not selected for the RAF |
| Napier-Heston Type 5 Racer | Letadla s rychlostním rekordem | 12 June 1940 | 1 | V důchodu | Crashed on first flight; second 80% complete |
| Boulton Paul P.92/2 | Half-scale research aircraft | 1941 | 1 | V důchodu | |
| Heston JC.6 (A.2/45) | Letecké pozorovací stanoviště | 1947 | 2 | V důchodu | Lost to the Auster AOP.6 |
| Youngman-Baynes High Lift | Flap research aircraft | 5 February 1948 | 1 | V důchodu |
Where Heston Aircraft built, who led it, what it achieved
Továrny
- Heston works · Heston Aerodrome, Middlesex
Lidé
- George Cornwall · chief designer
- Edmund G. Hordern · chief test pilot — Designed the Autoplane
- G.L.G. Richmond · chief test pilot — Flew and crashed the Type 5 Racer in 1940
Heston Aircraft, year by year
Comper Aircraft renamed Heston Aircraft
Phoenix production begins
New company of the same name takes over the business
T.1/37 trainer flies; Napier orders two racers
Type 5 Racer first flight and crash
Begins photo-reconnaissance Spitfire conversions
Sea Hornet NF.21 conversion first flies
Youngman-Baynes High Lift first flight
Before and after Heston Aircraft
Everything people ask about Heston Aircraft
What was the Heston Type 5 Racer?
How is Heston Aircraft related to Comper?
What did Heston do in the Second World War?
How many Heston Phoenix were built?
Around Heston Aircraft
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Ověřeno 2026-10-03.