View source for National Aircraft Factory No. 2

{{Use British English|date=August 2011}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2021}}
'''National Aircraft Factory No. 2''' (NAF No.2) was a World War I UK government owned aircraft factory located at [[Heaton Chapel]], [[Stockport]]. It produced over 450 warplanes during 1918/19. The Heaton Chapel factory was then sold to [[Crossley Motors]], who used it for building motor vehicles. In 1934, it was sold to the [[Fairey Aviation Company]], with aircraft production there continuing until the late 1950s.

==Management==

In 1917, the UK government decided to increase the country's aircraft production capacity by establishing '[[National Aircraft Factory|National Aircraft Factories]]'. These were to be managed by large established industrial firms from outside the aircraft industry. NAF No.2 was created at Crossley Road, Heaton Chapel, next to the [[London & North Western Railway]] company's line between [[Manchester Piccadilly station|Manchester (London Road) station]] and [[Stockport railway station|Stockport (Edgeley) station]]. [[Crossley Motors]] had partially completed a factory to build aero-engines on the {{convert|15|acre|m2|adj=on}} site and this was incorporated in a revised larger facility to be managed by the firm. The factory was completed in mid 1918.<ref name="Scholefield">{{Harvnb|Scholefield|2004|p=215}}</ref><ref name="aba981p3">{{harvnb|Jenks|1998|p=3}}</ref>

==Aircraft production==
[[Image:NAF No.2 1918.jpg|thumb|right|200px|The erecting area of the National Aircraft Factory No.2 in late 1918 with de Havilland DH.9s under assembly]]
An initial production contract was received by NAF No.2 for 500 [[de Havilland DH.9]] single-engined two-seat biplane day bombers for the [[Royal Air Force]].<ref name="Scholefield" /> The first DH.9 to be shipped from the Heaton Chapel factory was serial D1001 on 16 March 1918.<ref name="aba981p3"/> A total of 444 DH.9s had been built when production ceased in spring 1919.<ref name="aba981p10">{{harvnb|Jenks|1998|p=10}}</ref> Early production aircraft were despatched from NAF No.2 by rail, using the factory's adjacent LNWR sidings, to an Aircraft Acceptance Park at [[Coal Aston]] near [[Sheffield]] for final erection and testing. From May 1918 the DH.9s were transported in sections by rail or road to an Aircraft Acceptance Park at the newly opened [[Alexandra Park Aerodrome]] in Manchester where the aircraft were assembled and flight tested before delivery to the RAF.<ref name="Scholefield" /> Some aircraft were also flown out of an airfield set up on the nearby [[Levenshulme#Cringle_Park|Cringle Fields Park]].<ref name="aba981p3"/> The last 50 aircraft plus further NAF No.2 contracts for additional DH.9s were cancelled after the [[Armistice]].<ref name="Scholefield" />

A further contract was received for the production of 200 [[de Havilland DH.10]] Amiens twin-engined biplane day bombers. The first seven DH.10s (serials F351/357) were completed at NAF No.2, and test flown, from February 1919 onwards before the remaining machines on order were cancelled.<ref name="Scholefield" />

==Closure of NAF No.2 and subsequent use of factory buildings==

After the cancellation of remaining orders for military aircraft, the factory was sold to Crossley Motors for the manufacture of cars and goods vehicles by [[Willys Overland Crossley]], a joint venture between Crossley and the American [[Willys|Willys-Overland Motors]].<ref name="aba981p3"/><ref name="manp35">{{Harvnb|Scholefield|1998|p=35}}</ref> Motor vehicle production at Heaton Chapel ended in the early 1930s, and the [[Fairey Aviation Company]] of Hayes, Middlesex, needing more production capacity to fulfil large contracts for military aircraft, purchased the Heaton Chapel facilities in November 1934.<ref name="aba981p3"/><ref name="fairp18">{{harvnb|Taylor|1974|p=18}}</ref> In late 1935, the factory buildings were refurbished in preparation for aircraft production, and the first of a batch of thirteen [[Fairey Hendon]] bombers was completed in September 1936, being moved by road to [[Barton Aerodrome]] for flight testing.<ref name="aba981p3"/><ref name="fairp214,6">{{harvnb|Taylor|1974|pp=214, 216}}</ref> In 1937, production switched to the [[Fairey Battle]] bomber, and later that year flight test activities were moved to Ringway Airport (now [[Manchester Airport]]).<ref name="aba981p3"/> 

In 1940, a [[British shadow factories|shadow factory]] was built next to Fairey's Heaton park factory. This new factory, known as Errwood Park, was also managed by Fairey. It built [[Bristol Beaufighter]] fighters and [[Handley Page Halifax]] bombers during the war. Aircraft production at the shadow factory was stopped shortly after the end of the war, and at the end of 1945, Errwood Park was leased by Crossley from the [[Board of Trade]], being used to build buses.<ref name="aba981p56">{{harvnb|Jenks|1998|pp=5–6}}</ref> 

Nearly 4,400 new aircraft were built at the two factories between 1936 and 1958.<ref>{{Harvnb|Scholefield|1998|p=158}}</ref>

==References==
===Citations===
{{reflist}}

===Bibliography===

*{{citation |last=Jenks |first=George |title=Stockport Aircraft Factories |magazine=Aeromilitaria |publisher=[[Air-Britain]] |year=1998 |issue=1 |pages=3–10}}
*{{citation|title= National Aircraft Factory Near Manchester|journal=[[The Engineer (UK magazine)|The Engineer]]|date=2 May 1919 |volume=127|pages=422–424|url=http://www.gracesguide.co.uk/images/f/f1/Er19190502.pdf#4}}
*{{citation|last=Scholefield|first=R.A.|title=Manchester Airport|year=1998|publisher=Sutton Publishing|isbn=0-7509-1954-X}}
*{{citation|last=Scholefield|first=R.A.|title=Manchester's Early Airfields: an extended article in Moving Manchester|year=2004|publisher=Lancashire & Cheshire Antiquarian Society|issn=0950-4699}}
*{{citation|last=Taylor |first=H. A. |title=Fairey Aircraft since 1915 |year=1974 |location=London |publisher=Putnam |isbn=0-370-00065-X}}

{{Aerospace industry in the United Kingdom}}
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[[Category:History of Manchester]]
[[Category:Defunct aircraft manufacturers of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures in the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport]]