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Aviation History
1955
1955 - 1191.PDF
26 August 1955 305 At Fort Erie, home of Fleet and Doman-Fleet: H. L. Eberts (president), D. Bryon (pilot), W. Weymouth and the LZ-5. THE FAIREY AVIATION COMPANY OF CANADA, LTD.T WO new plant facilities, full production of Fairey power con-• trols, and an extension of overhaul and repair work to two new types of aircraft have signified the development of theCanadian Fairey company over the past 12 months. The major physical expansion has been the opening in Marchof the company's new base on the west coast of Canada, at Patricia Bay Airport, Sidney, B.C. Although only a relatively small unit—the main hangar covers some 50,000 sq ft—modern machinery and equipment is being installed, and there is room (and a firmexpectation) for future enlargement. The staff of 50 are at present working on the overhaul and repair of Avengers for certainR.C.N. units on the west coast. At the company's main base at Eastern Passage, Nova Scotia,one of the major conversion contracts has involved the re-equip- ping and modernizing of Grumman TBM Avengers for theCanadian Navy—whose Air Arm headquarters are at H.M.C.S. Shearwater, just a three-minute drive from the Fairey plant. Thecompany is particularly proud of this accomplishment in fitting Avengers with highly refined anti-submarine equipment—includ-ing M.A.D. booms—which has enhanced and extended the use- ful life of this machine. Other conversion work has been per-formed on Lancasters for the R.C.A.F., and on Sea Furies for the R.C.N. Although overhaul, conversion and repair are the Fairey com-pany's main functions, the manufacture of Fairey Hydro-booster units, which are fitted to the flying controls of the CF-100,has built up into a sizeable business and is now continuing at a high rate. Spare parts, for installation and for Service stores,are also being produced, and an order is in hand for certain hydraulic equipment for the Canadair CL-28. A 7,000 sq ft extension to the main factory has recently been occupied: thisis devoted to work on electrical instruments and equipment. A further expansion of activity in the electronics field is forecast,and provision has been made for a second storey to be added to the new electrical block. In service with the R.C.N., the McDonnell Banshee has re-placed the Sea Fury, and the Fairey company is now starting a repair and overhaul programme on this newer type. Anothernew type, soon to be handled at Eastern Passage, is the Lock- heed P2V-7 Neptune, which is to replace the Lancaster forR.C.A.F. maritime reconnaissance duties. Looking further ahead to the replacement of the veteranAvengers by CS2F-ls, the probability is that this machine, too, will be overhauled as necessary by Fairey for the Canadian Navy. Managing director of the Fairey Aviation Company of Canadais C. E. Hibbert. At Eastern Passage, A. C. Earle is plant manager; E. C. Garrard, chief designer; W. J. May, chief inspec-tor; and A. M. Cameron, secretary-treasurer. Plant manager at Patricia Bay is D. W. Howell. The number of people employedby the company has remained fairly constant over the last year at about 850. FLEET MANUFACTURING, LTD. TN spite of a reduction in personnel caused by a withdrawal of•*• Sabre sub-contract work, Fleet Manufacturing at Fort Erie have managed to retain a healthy position this year, with commend-able production records in the fields of aviation and ground radar equipment. The company is engaged on novel processesin connection with the CS2F-1 programme, and has progress to report on two promising new developments. Following the termination of the 1953 management agree-ment with Canadair, which had brought to Fleet H. L. Eberts and B. Daniels, the Fort Erie company returned to independentstatus, Mr. Eberts and Mr. Daniels electing to remain as presi- dent and general manager, and manufacturing manager, respec-tively. Fleet's activities since then have been mainly centred around sub-contracts with three major aircraft firms—Canadair,Avro Canada, and Republic Aviation—and two major electronics companies—Canadian G.E.C. and Northern Electric. Morerecently, work for de Havilland Canada has been undertaken. For Canadair, until the withdrawal of work to that company'splant following the stretch-out in Sabre production last Decem- ber, Fleet had made a large number of wing and fuselage assem-blies and components for the Sabre. The cessation of this work naturally came as a serious blow to Fleet's activities, and causeda reduction in staff of over 200. For the Avro CF-100, the company continues to make flaps, ailerons and a number ofclassified components. Other work which has continued during the last 12 month*includes the manufacture of nose-wheel components for the Republic F-84; and massive radar antennae and towers, andmicrowave units, for the electronics firms mentioned above. New contracts on the aircraft side include honeycomb sandwich sec-tions (bomb-bay doors, nose-wheel doors, escape hatches and access covers) for the CS2F-1 for de Havilland—using techniques Fairey's new base at Patricia Bay on Canada's west coast, where overhaul and repair of R.C.N. Avengers is carried out. **• „„„„„
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