Beagle

History

The British Executive and General Aviation Limited (trading as BEAGLE) was the brainchild of Peter G. Masefield (b. 19 March 1914 in Stone, Staffordshire - d. 14 February 2006 in Laughton, Sussex), then managing director of Bristol Aircraft. In the 1950’s Bristol’s business was very much in the doldrums, with diminishing order book and under-utilized design and workshop facilities, Masefield promoted the idea of light aircraft production. This was to lead to Bristol’s Type 219 single and Type 220 twin-engined projects, designed by Ronald James Brabant Woodhams (b. 20 May 1916 - d. 1 Sep 1998. The development of the twin engine Type 220 was further encouraged in 1958, when the Air Ministry's issued ASR.379 for a small communications aircraft to replace the Avro Anson. Although Bristol’s Board initially showed some limited interest, the eventual reorganization of Bristol into BAC saw all interest dropped.

Masefield was already extremely disillusioned with Bristol’s management and in March 1960 resigned from the company, closely followed by an offer of £1,000 for the full rights to the design of both types. The Deputy Chairman of Pressed Steel at that time, Mike Bellhouse, had a substantial interest in aviation, and a meeting with Masefield on 6 May 1960 resulted in a Memorandum outlining the prospects for a British light aircraft industry, should Pressed Steel be able to acquire the rights to the Types 219 and 220.

The British Executive and General Aviation Limited was incorporated on 14 October 1960, with Bellhouse as chairman and Masefield as Managing Director. The original BEAGLE ideals were based on the principle, proven by the American industry, of providing a full range of light aircraft. From the start this was the policy BEAGLE tried to follow. However, at the time of BEAGLE’s inception, the Air Ministry's had issued ASR.379 for an Anson replacement which gave the possibility of financial stability to the whole idea.

At this point the company had design projects, but no manufacturing facilities, and both Auster and F. G. Miles were seen as opportunities to purchase an existing manufacturing facility. The sale agreement between Pressed Steel and Auster was signed on 3 November 1960. Auster was renamed Beagle Auster Aircraft Ltd on 14 March 1961, with Masefield as Chairman and Frank Bates Managing Director, the same position he held with Auster, and newly appointed Marcus Langley as Chief Engineer.

Initially BEAGLE arranged a technical and manufacturing liaison with F. G. Miles Ltd at Shoreham, with design and production of the prototype B.206X, as the Bristol Type 220 had become, being subcontracted to them, along with construction of the mock-up. George Miles became Technical Director of a coordinating board formed under the chairmanship of Masefield. This subcontract status did not last long, for on 25 November 1960, F.G. Miles Ltd became part of the BEAGLE Group. F.G. Miles Ltd was renamed Miles Engineering and a new company named F.G. Miles Ltd was formed which acquired the aviation assets of Miles Engineering. The new F.G. Miles Ltd was then acquired by the BEAGLE Group, where F.G. Miles became the Deputy Chairman. In February 1961 F.G. Miles Ltd was formally renamed Beagle-Miles Ltd. Also in November 1960 Ron Woodhams, the original designer of the Type 220, resigned his post at Bristol and joined BEAGLE as Chief Designer.

Initially the three parts of the company operated independently but his did not last long and the three parts of the company were merged at Shoreham as Beagle Aircraft Limited on 10 May 1962. The incorporation of Auster and Miles led to an eight-strong range of aircraft. Of these, three were essentially legacy Auster designs – Terrier, D-series/Husky and AOP.11 – and the “new” A.109 Airedale had its origins in the earlier Auster D.8 project. Miles brought two projects, the M.114 single and M.115 twin engine designs (redesignated M.117 and M.218 in the Beagle designation system), and an existing informal arrangement between Miles and Wing Commander Ken Wallis brought the Wallis autogiro into the fold.

Misfortune hit the B.206 project when the Anson replacement programme was shelved in 1961 and 1962, ostensibly as an economy measure, even though the prototype B.206 had flown successfully in August 1961. When the RAF bought only 22 B.206 Bassets instead of the expected 120 there was no longer any chance of R&D costs being recovered on that contract alone. The aircraft was heavily criticized as not being able to do the job required of it, particularly in hot and high conditions. A supercharged-engine version was developed for the civil market.

Neither F.G. nor George Miles fared well at Beagle, considering little effort being made to pursue legacy Miles’ designs. While both were talented designers, their managerial skills were far less so, at their clashes with senior Beagle management eventually proved untenable. F.G. finally left Beagle in September 1962, though he remained on the payroll for another eight months until the dismissal of his brother George in May 1963.

The M.117 and M.218 were to be founders of a new range, but both designs involved extensive use of plastics which, with the state of the art insufficiently advanced, proved expensive, heavy and unreliable. Strangely the decision was made to build the M.218 twin before the M.117. The difficulties with plastics led to work being abandoned on the types in 1964 but the decision was then taken to re-tool the M.218 for conventional all-metal construction, when it became the M.242, which flew in 1964. It was found that it is not a simple matter simply to substitute alloy for plastic and, with extensive re-design becoming necessary, the project was abandoned.

The initial development of the large number of aircraft types involved required a great deal of capital outlay by Pressed Steel, i.e., £2.4M, whereas only £250,000 was recouped from sales during the first 2 1/2 years. Putting the B.206 into production proved the most expensive and by the end of 1964 costs had reached £3M with further expenditure inevitable. The directors of Pressed Steel Fisher (as it had since become) were then being faced with a situation way beyond their original expectations, despite the fact that in 1965 a small portion of the B.206s costs were being underwritten by the Government. Pressed Steel Fisher were eventually absorbed into the British Motor Corporation who, having reviewed the aviation side, realised that its full potential could not be exploited without a substantial investment of funds and they were not willing to do this. Discussions with the Government for additional financial support proved fruitless and eventually escalated to the point where, on the 12 December 1966, assets of Beagle Aircraft were handed over by Pressed Steel Fisher to the Ministry of Technology for £1 million and it became private company with shareholding wholly owned by the Ministry of Technology though with the board having responsibility for running it. On 16 November 1967, the Ministry of Technology appointed K.M. Myer as the new managing director.

In 1967 a completely redesigned M.117 finally appeared as the B.121 Pup, which first flew from Shoreham Airport on 8 April, so after six years there was only one of the new light aircraft ranges which had been the basis of the original aims and theories, and which was essential if Beagle and a British light-aircraft industry were to survive. Unfortunately, the Pup was a more complex design to manufacture and was correspondingly more expensive to build, yet was sold at a competitive price. Its maintenance requires more care (i.e., expense) and its early days were troubled by issues with the doors and spares availability. In an effort to reduce costs and to concentrate all efforts on B.206 and Pup production, in November 1968 Beagle sold its interest in Auster aircraft to Hants and Sussex Aviation, Portsmouth.

The prototype Bulldog first flew on 19 May 1969 at Shoreham Airport. The first order for the type was for 78 from the Swedish Air Board and significant further orders were anticipated. However, under capitalization had remained the main problem to the point where the Government refused to grant an additional £6M for further development and the company was placed in the hands of the receiver.

Beagle's earliest chance of survival had been centred on the discussions with Ling-Temco-Vought of Dallas, Texas, which were going on before the Government announced its withdrawal. This company proposed to acquire a substantial share capital in the company provided that the Government maintained background support. As soon as the receiver was appointed to Beagle, the LTV negotiations ended. During 1969 there had been discussions with other overseas companies about possible opportunities for collaboration, especially on distribution and marketing. Apart from LTV, these companies included Grumman in the USA and Sud, Dornier and MBB in Europe.

Although production continued, albeit at a very low rate while the receiver tried to revive and sell the company (now re-named Beagle Aircraft (1969) Limited), it was of no avail and the assets were gradually disposed of. Production rights for the Bulldog, along with the Swedish order, were taken over by Scottish Aviation (Bulldog) Limited in May 1970. All subsequent aircraft were built at Prestwick Airport by Scottish Aviation, or in later years, British Aerospace.

Company References

1. False Dawn - The Beagle Aircraft Story, Tom Wenham (Air Britain Publishing, 2015)
2. Scottish Aviation Bulldog, Tom Wenham (Air Britain, 2019)
3. Beagle Aircraft - A Production History, Midland Counties Aircraft Research Group (Midland Counties Publications, 1974)
4. British Private Aircraft, 1946-1970, Volume 1, Arthur W.J.G. Ord-Hume (Mushroom Model Publications, 2013)
5. Flight, 14 Oct 1960
6. Flight, 14 Oct 1960
7. Flight, 2 Dec 1960
8. Flight, 23 Mar 1961
9. Flight, 26 Sep 1968
10. Flight, 17 Oct 1968
11. Flight, 21 Nov 1968
12. Flight 8 Jan 1970
13. Flight 30 Apr1970
14. Flight 4 Jun 1970