Warbird Information Exchange

Formed at Hamble in 1936 as British Marine Aircraft Ltd.(associated with British Aircraft Manufacturing Co.Ltd).The intention was to manufacture the Sikorsky S42 flying boat,but this project was abandoned.In 1937 H.P.Folland became Managing Director and the company was renamed Folland Aircraft Co.The company then concentrated its efforts on subcontract / component work until 1940.

During 1940 the company built 12 "large engine test" aircraft for the flight testing of large piston engines.The next production did not happen until 1954 when the Midge (prototype for the Folland Gnat ) first flew(At Chilbolton).This was followed by production of some 120 aircraft for the RAF ,India,Yugoslavia and Finland.As with the Midge ,all were transported to Chilbolton for flight testing.During this time the company became part of Hawker Siddelly Aviation,which ,in turn later became part of British Aerospace.No further complete aircraft were built at Hamble.Instead,major components were manufactured, principally for Harriers.

I was an Electrical Engineer at the Cleveland Army Tank - Automotive Plant (official U.S. Army title for the plant) from 1964 through 1971. This was when it was at least partially run by GM - At one point it was shared with Chrysler Corporation - a tall concrete block wall through part of the plant divided the two companies.

GM's management was under Cadillac Motor Car Division, Allison Division, and finally Detroit Diesel Allison Division. Many of the group were moved to suburban Detroit after the plant's closing. (I was transferred to Electro-Motive Division in Chicago)

I still keep contact with some of my friends who worked there with me.

I have been contacted several times since leaving with questions about the plant before it was turned into an exposition center and the red brick administration building was torn down.

Actual ownership of the plant was listed as U.S. Army Tank - Automotive Command. The work "automotive" simply referred to Army vehicles. All of the vehicles that were manufactured at the plant were "tracked" (not rubber tire) vehicles.

The plant was constructed during World War 2. It was built for the production of airplanes. I don't know what type but I was told that only two production aircraft were completed before the war ended and that both of them crashed on their first flights. I was led to believe that one of the crashes was in the wooded valley just west of the plant. I was told that they did produce aircraft parts in addition to "planes".

The "north facing" wall of the plant contained two huge doors that were to open to allow the finished aircraft to exit the plant. The doors, amazingly, were made almost entirely of wood due to WW2 steel shortages. If I recall correctly, the doors were over 100 feet wide and pivoted upward in one piece in order to open. I was part of a small engineering group that was asked to examine the doors to see if they were operable in about 1965. Our conclusion was that they would open but due to deflection due to the age of the wood, we would never be able to get them to close again. We never attempted to open the doors.

Cleveland area newspapers should be able to document the airplane crashes.

After World War 2, the plant was filled to the ceiling (tall ceiling) with surplus government grain. I was led to believe that it was wheat and corn. This was all removed after several years (after the Korean War) and the plant was assigned to ATAC, Army Tank Automotive Command.

A large portion of the main plant has tunnels and storage rooms below it with hallways big enough for fork lift trucks to use. I stored lots of my electrical systems and parts there because my stuff was a lot smaller than the parts that the mechanical engineers had. The legacy of the grain storage era was that these rooms also housed rats that had been well fed and I often carried an iron bar with me when I went down there by myself.

In the very early sixty’s, Chrysler has use of the plant since its use was part of the "bid" for production contracts. Then GM (Cadillac) (engineering and research) shared it with Chrysler (production) then GM became the successful bidder and Chrysler went away and GM had the whole building.

GM designed and build the M551 (General Sheridan) airborne assault armored reconnaissance vehicle(AARV). It weighed 16 tons and looked like a tank but per Army rules, it was not a tank. GM also built the M114 Armored Personnel Carrier (had a GM automotive V-8 in it) and the M109 Self Propelled Howitzer(large mobile gun basically). It had an Allison Diesel and Allison Transmission.

GM also built the casings for mortar shells in one corner of the big plant. This was a "spill -over" as GM had the contract but no convenient place to build them. The plant had lots of space and we often got little "spill-over" jobs. The mortar casings were like several thousand units per day. All were "magna-flux" tested for cracks and I was occasionally asked to look at problems with the magna-flux machines.

One interesting automotive note is that we had a Chevrolet Corvair Van which had been cut in two and had an articulated joint put in the middle in an effort to make it into a very versatile "military cab with trailer". This was sent up to GM's Milford, Michigan Proving Ground and not heard from again. It actually worked fairly well since the "rear engine" was in the trailer. GM didn't have a front wheel drive car at the time so nothing was done about putting an engine it the "cab" half.

The plant was empty when I left in the early 1970s. We let some stray cats loose in the plant in an effort to not have the office part over run with rats. The red brick office building was later torn down when they made it into an exposition center. (The office building had long halls with hardwood floors that were badly warped when I was there. I think this was due to long years of non-ventilated and non-heated storage. The office building was not air conditioned and so was probably not very valuable and would cost a lot to update.)