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.
Memorabilia
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 …
Fairey Air Surveys Rhodesia
Marketing brochures from Fairey Surveys and Clyde Surveys
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
Extract from Air Annual of the British Empire 1929
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.
Contact us
The website is run by a group of old Fairey Surveys employees. We would be grateful for any comments, corrections and additional material. Comments on content and corrections can be notified directly on the comments form under the article or picture. If you have any additional material (photographs, newsletters, articles..) or suggestions for changes or additions to the website, please send us an email at:
admin@faireysurveys.co.uk
and we’ll get back to you.
Equipment
Fairey Surveys used and made some very specialised equipment. Here are pictures and information about some of it (click on the name or the photo for the full view). Tony Furneaux and Adrian Workman provided the photographs, and Derek Minter and Lawrence Scott contributed the brochures.
Stereoviewer (Clyde Surveys version)
Fairey Stereoviewer brochure (Fairey Surveys version)
Fairey Additive Viewer brochure (Mk 2: The first picture is slightly different, with an extra interface, and the weight has more than doubled – FSL Newsletter 18 has details of the changes)
Vibration isolator unit
The photo of the camera without operator, AW17, was designed to be installed in an RAF Scout helicopter and used to take oblique photographs at long range. It shows the vibration isolator unit which the camera is mounted on. The five photographs AW15,16,18,19 & 20 are parts of a typical vibration isolator unit that were made in the R&I Department.
Maidenhead Advertiser article 5th May 1972
Peter Lilley contributed this double page spread article from the Maidenhead Advertiser. Did FSL pay for it?
Topical Fish
Jean Fostekew contributed this, taken from an old Fairey Air Surveys newsletter.
Old Faireys
The staff photograph outside the office in Reform Road was taken after the takeover by Clyde, about 1979. At one of the White Waltham reunions a few years ago, everyone was asked to fill in all the names they could remember. There are still gaps, so if you can fill them in, please let us know.
- DM04 Old Faireys