Aviation
Surrey’s reputation in engineering is sky-high
Surrey has a long association with aeronautical engineering. In 1915 Vickers started manufacturing military aircraft at Brooklands, including the twinengined long-range Vimy bomber. Meanwhile Sopwith Camels, Snipes, Pups and Triplanes rolled off production lines in nearby Kingston, and were testflown and delivered from Brooklands.
Between the wars the Hawker Hurricane, designed by Sydney Camm, was assembled and first flown in prototype form in November 1935, and one-fifth of all Wellington bombers were produced here. By the 1950s Vickers was based at Weybridge and Wisley, pioneering the Vickers Valiant jet bomber, while Hawker Aircraft, based at the Kingston Works and Dunsfold Aerodrome, produced the Hawker Hunter and Sea Hawk jet aircraft.