History of Fairey Surveys Ltd
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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.
Peter Lilley contributed this double page spread article from the Maidenhead Advertiser. Did FSL pay for it?
Jean Fostekew contributed this, taken from an old Fairey Air Surveys newsletter.
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.
Derek Minter contributed these photos taken during the Nigerian geophysical survey 1974/75, when the crews were based in Enugu, and the job specs and briefing notes. The photos feature Nigel Ridley-Thomas (glasses), Alex Copeland and an unknown Nigerian carrying a cast iron bath.
The Air Surveyor was a quarterly magazine with articles written by staff from all departments and locations from 1957 to 1960, and distributed internally. Lots of in jokes and clever line drawings – even a crossword.
News Bulletin No 1 – 31st Mar 1957 The title wasn’t fixed, and there was a competition for the name of the new bulletin – prize 200 cigarettes! None of the suggestions for a title was felt to be entirely suitable (Fairey Tales from Fairchild Aerial Surveys, Fairey Stories from Gillian Waring, F.A.S. Mosaic from Fred Crooks …) so the Managing Director selected the title of “The Air Surveyor”. The 200 cigarettes were given to Gillian Waring and Fred Crooks, to be shared equally.
Air Surveyor No 2 – 31st Jul 1957
Air Surveyor No 3 – 31st Oct 1957
Air Surveyor No 4 – Christmas 1957
Air Surveyor No 5 – 31st Mar 1958
Air Surveyor No 6 – 30th Jun 1958
Air Surveyor No 7 – September 1958
Air Surveyor No 8 – December 1958
Air Surveyor No 9 – Spring 1959
Air Surveyor No 10 – Autumn 1959
Air Surveyor – Spring 1960 No number on this edition – was this the last? Let us know if you have any others.
A four page reprint from the February 1947 edition of the magazine Air Transport, at the time of a World Air Survey Conference.
Brochure describing the uses and benefits of the 3D models produced by Fairey Surveys.
Fairey News was the newsletter of the Fairey Group, and had items from all the subsidiary companies. Fairey Review was an earlier incarnation of the same thing, but much bigger and glossier. We have only one copy of Fairey News, from 1972, and two copies of the Fairey Review, courtesy of Lawrence Scott, from December 1960 and June 1964.
The content covers the very varied and specialised work done by the Fairey Group: beer kegs from Fairey Stainless, power boats from Fairey Marine, air and ground survey work by Fairey Air Surveys for the Maidenhead bypass (first bit of the M4?), nuclear, military and radio telescope work from Fairey Engineering, and much more.
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