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Aviation History
1929
1929 - 0011.PDF
JANUARY 3, 1929 0 DEBUT OF SIMMONDS "SPARTAN" PRODUCTION TYPE Interesting Ceremony at Southampton THE youngest aircraft' manufacturing company in this country, Simmonds' Aircraft, Ltd., Woolston, Southampton, celebrated the completion of their first production type of the Simmonds " Spartan " light aeroplane on December 31. It was christened by the Mayoress of Southampton (Mrs. M. H. Pngh) with pleasant ceremony at the Woolston works. Mr. O. E. Simmonds, M.A., chairman and chief designer of the company, and his co-director, Lieut.-Col. L. A. Strange, D.S.O., M.C., D.F.C., received the Mayor and Mayoress, and engage more men. Their workpeople and staff had made considerable sacrifice to get the first production machine ready for that day. The Mayoress then christened the machine ' Cirrus- Spartan." In a subsequent tour of inspection round the works, where 70 people are already engaged, apart from the staff, Mr. Simmonds explained briefly some of his methods of production. He believes that much money can be con- sumed in the erection process of aircraft, and he therefore " FLIGHT " Photographs CHRISTENING CEREMONY OF SIMMONDS " SPARTAN " PRODUCTION TYPE : In the picture on the left is Mr. O. E. Simmonds, Chairman (left), and his eo-director, Lt.-Col. L. A. Strange, D.S.O., M.C., D.F.C. On the right, The Mayor and Mayoress of Southampton (Mr. and Mrs. Pugh) are trying the. comfortable and spacious cockpits of the Simmonds " Spartan " (A.D.C. " Cirrus " Mk. Ill), Mr. Simmonds being alongside. Below is the Mayoress about to perform the christening ceremony in the usual way in the Company's Woolston works, on December 31, when a large number of guests were present. in his preliminary remarks Mr. Simmonds observed that there were now in and around Southampton no less than four aircraft companies, which was as many as in the Metropolis itself. He said that it was a pleasure that Simmonds Aircraft, Ltd., were able to ease local unemployment in a small way and that their present orders would necessitate taking further space in the Government Rolling Mills, when they hoped to reduces the work involved in erection to a minimum by having all sections of the machine completed as far as possible on the benches. He has himself designed a very extensive system of jigs, and the first production machine is completely standardised. He has designed a jig for drilling the holes in the interchange- able fin and tail 'plane, for example. No steaming is done for bending. The longerons are curved to the sternpost
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