de Havilland Aircraft Company

Financial support to start the company (£10,000) came from de Havilland's former employer George Holt Thomas, founder and chairman of The Aircraft Manufacturing Company (Airco) for whom Geoffrey had worked after leaving the Royal Aircraft Factory at Farnborough. Despite a few early successful single and two-seat military biplane designs, de Havilland became frustrated with the Air Ministry's technical and procurement procedures during and after World War 1. He quickly decided that the new company should concentrate on the fast-emerging commercial and private aircraft market rather than the contentious and often difficult military aircraft alternative. Initially, the new company struggled through a lack of investment and made little impact in the industry.  

In 1921 de Havilland was approached by wealthy businessman Alan Butler, who wanted him to build him a new sporting aircraft. Before too long de Havilland and Butler became firm friends and Butler was so impressed by the men that built his new aeroplane the de Havilland DH.37 that he asked Geoffrey his company 'could do with some extra investment? Butler next invested heavily in the company and helped fund the purchase of Stag Lane before becoming Company Chairman in 1924.  This allowed de Havilland to concentrate on his designs whilst Butler ran the business, developing the sales, marketing and production resources.

Often referred to as ‘The DH Enterprise’, the business quickly expanded its engine and propeller production becoming a major supplier to a network of other aircraft companies, as well as establishing new manufacturing facilities in both Canada and Australia in the late 1920s. In 1925 the company designed and began production of the very successful Moth family of light aeroplanes, which brought financial stability and success and led to numerous derivatives. By 1930, the de Havilland Aircraft Company had established Hatfield as its main manufacturing facility, alongside the newly-constructed A1 trunk road which provided quick and easy access to the North as well as London to the South. Hatfield was a fast-growing suburban town which provided an abundance of young, enthusiastic engineers as well as comfortable quality housing.

A number of iconic aircraft followed such as the DH.84 Dragon and DH.89 Dragon Rapide.  With darkening clouds over Europe and the Second World War on the horizon, de Havilland Aircraft now concentrated on the design and production of military types. In 1938 the Air Ministry was looking for a heavily-armed multi-role aircraft and by 1940 they had issued a specification calling for 50 aircraft for a bomber / reconnaissance role. Despite varying claims made by de Havilland, their DH.98 submission was considered 'too radical' and rejected by the Ministry. De Havilland persevered however and continued design work in secrecy at nearby Salisbury Hall. The result proved to be one of the fastest and most successful fighter-bombers of the era - the de Havilland DH.98 Mosquito. With its high-performance well-suited to an unarmed, high-altitude reconnaissance role, the Mosquito was an instant success and 7,781 aircraft eventually took to the skies where it proved to be the fastest British aircraft to see service in the Second World War.

During 1940 the company also expanded further with the acquisition of Airspeed Limited, which operated in Portsmouth, producing aircraft such as the Oxford and later the Horsa glider, Consul, and Ambassador. Airspeed initially operated retaining its own name. However, by 1951 it had merged fully with the de Havilland company and was producing military DH.115 Vampire Trainers.  Other factories also supported de Havilland in its war effort, most notably at Leavesden and Witney in Oxfordshire.

Over the years  the de Havilland company and the de Havilland family faced many setbacks. In 1943, the founder's second eldest son John was killed in a 'freak' mid-air collision while test flying a Mosquito over St Albans and in 1946, the eldest son, Geoffrey de Havilland Junior lost his life whilst carrying out high-speed trials in the DH.108 Swallow, a tailless swept-wing aircraft. Better times followed for a short period when company test pilot John Derry is believed to have been the first British pilot to exceed the sound barrier in the DH.108 in 1948. Danger nevertheless is always present in the life of any test pilot and Derry himself, along with observer Tony Richards, were to crash at Farnborough Air Show on 6th September 1952, whilst displaying the prototype DH.110, later developed as the Sea Vixen. Both crew died as did 29 spectators with many others injured in the crowd.

The company next suffered perhaps its greatest tragedy and set back with an aircraft considered to be 'one of the greatest technological advances of the age'. The DH.106 Comet, the worlds’ first pressurised jet airliner, suffered a series of serious accidents between October 1952 and April 1954. With their most significant aircraft grounded for four years, the rival American Boeing company was to capture the valuable Trans-Atlantic market and secure airline confidence worldwide. Metal fatigue, a new problem for aircraft manufacturers, was found to be the cause and although the Comet returned to service in 1958, its technical lead had been lost.

The reorganisation of the aircraft industry at the end of the 1950s saw the de Havilland name survive for a short while until renamed as the de Havilland Division of Hawker Siddeley Aviation in 1963. Hatfield continued to produce many innovative designs such as the three-engine DH.121 Trident and the DH.125 Jet Dragon executive jet (later known as the HS125 / BAe125) and these are covered on separate web pages.  

Innovation continued at Hatfield under British Aerospace well into the 1990s with major involvement in the Airbus A300 programme (HBN100) and the successful production and sales of the HS / BAe146, one of the most successful of the European 'feeder-liners'.

Hatfield finally closed its doors in 1993 and although many mourned its loss, the site today employs more people than it did during its aircraft design and manufacturing heyday.