History of Fairey Surveys Ltd
This photograph was sent in by Jim Symonds. The Fairey Air Surveys team won by ten wickets in the Fairey Challenge cup played at Hayes in 1962!
If anyone can fill in the gaps, please use the comment form to let us know.
Bob Purcell sent this wonderful description of his experience on a survey job in Saudi Arabia, moving equipment from Jeddah to Riyadh over Christmas.
Attached is a photograph from the recent get together in White Waltham, courtesy of Graham Bridges and John Tompkins. The message is for Bob Purcell, who couldn’t be there. Click on the photo for a full size picture.
Geoff Milsom, former Chief Pilot, has drawn up a list of pilots who worked for Fairey Air Surveys, Fairey Surveys and Clyde Surveys during his time.
This list is not necessarily comprehensive. Any omissions or corrections would be gratefully received, along with any other information on the pilots themselves. For example: Desmond Plunkett was one of the wartime RAF officers portrayed in the film ‘Great Escape’ (see article under ‘Personnel’), and Paul Heimes flew Spitfires in the Battle of Britain.
The list is attached:
This article was published in the Daily Express when Desmond Plunkett, one of the Fairey Surveys pilots, died in 2002. He was one of the RAF prisoners of war immortalised in the file ‘The Great Escape’.
This brochure from 1969 – another from Derek Minter’s files – is a magnetic map of Church Stretton in Shropshire. It says it is a test area, so presumably the survey and the brochure were done to provide marketing material for the Geophysics Department.
Derek Minter starts this post off with his old employment letters. Does anyone have any other interesting bits and pieces to add? All contributions gratefully received – use the Contact form to let us know if you have anything, and we’ll be in touch. We don’t have to post names …
The first two brochures are from Derek Minter’s files. The Fairey Surveys brochure must be dated between 1977 and 1980, with Lawrence Scott as Managing Director after W. P. Smith moved to the Ordnance Survey. The Clyde brochure has a date of March 1980, after the takeover of Fairey Surveys by Clyde.
The next brochure is a Profile of Fairey Surveys Limited, dated 1979. It is a substantial document, with details of all the services offered by FSL, and sample map sheets. This comes from Lawrence Scott’s files. It’s a big document, so it may take a few minutes to open – view with Adobe Reader if you are given the option.
Profile of Fairey Surveys Limited – 1979
The following brochures are also from Lawrence Scott’s files, and mostly come from the late 70s, before the Clyde takeover, though the Humber Bridge surveying brochure is dated 1973.
Landsat Products Service brochure
Airborne Heat Loss Surveys brochure
Humber Bridge Surveying brochure
Urban Control Network Survey brochure
This extract looks at the early development and techniques of air survey, with illustrations and photographs. There is a section on Air Survey, written by R C Kemp, then Managing Director of Air Survey Company Ltd, and talks about the techniques of air survey, and also about the Air Survey Company. The next section on Air Survey and Empire Development was written by Colonel H L Crosthwait, a Director of the Aircraft Operating Company Ltd, and talks about the application of air survey to the infrastructure and economy of the British Empire. The third section is on Air Survey and Air Photography by Major C K Cochran-Patrick about the benefits of using air photography for mapping in undeveloped countries, and lastly one page on Air Photography, which is effectively an advert for Aerofilms.
The scan isn’t wonderful, as the book (from Ken Fostekew) is old and fragile, but it is reasonably legible. At the front and back of the book are 30-odd pages of advertisements, which read like a history of British aviation, with advertisements for de Havilland Moths, Rolls Royce aero engines, Stanford maps, Marconi wireless equipment and even Flight Magazine.