Category Archives: Aviation

aircraft, airports and the like related to the region around Preston.

Parliament debates BAE redundancies

Posted on November 26, 2011 by Pete of MIP

On November 24th a debate was held in parliament on the redundancies at BAE SYSTEMS primarily at the Warton and Samlesbury plants in Lancashire and the closure of the Brough site in Yorkshire. The prime mover was David Davis, the … Continue reading →

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BAE Systems redundancies announced

Posted on September 28, 2011 by Pete of MIP

BAE Systems announced on 27th September, 3,000 potential job losses at its sites. Of the total the Preston area includes; 843 at Warton and 565 at Samlesbury, making 1,408 in the area. Worst hit of all the military aircraft sites … Continue reading →

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BAE SYSTEMS announces potential redundancies

Posted on December 14, 2010 by Pete of MIP

The UK’s biggest advanced engineering company, BAE SYSTEMS, has announced potential local job losses following the cancellation of the UK Nimrod MRA4 and Harrier contracts.  These include 668 at Warton and 119 at Samlesbury.   In addition jobs will be lost … Continue reading →

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Defence Review

Posted on November 1, 2010 by Pete of MIP

The defence review announced on the 19th October ended the UK requirement for Harrier, Nimrod MRA4 and vertical take off F35 which all provide work in the local BAE SYSTEMS factories.  The Nimrod has been in work for well over 10 years … Continue reading →

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Liam Fox in Saudi Arabia supporting local industry

Posted on September 24, 2010 by Pete of MIP

It is reported the UK Minister of Defence Liam Fox is meeting the King of Saudi Arabia and will discuss potential arms sales.  The US has recently announced the sale of $100bn of arms to the region and the UK … Continue reading →

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BAE trims its cloth

Posted on September 10, 2010 by Pete of MIP

Around 450 jobs are to go at BAE SYSTEMS Warton and Samlesbury plants out of a total of 950 that will be shed nationally.  In such a large company it could be expected that there will be a lot of … Continue reading →

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Defence Minister fires warning shots at Farnborough

Posted on July 22, 2010 by Pete of MIP

Liam Fox the Defence Minister made a speech at Farnborough giving a warning about the affordability of defence projects in the current climate.  Although some might say in any climate. The most promising part of the speech was the support … Continue reading →

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Taranis Unmanned Aircraft unveiled

Posted on July 13, 2010 by Pete of MIP

Yesterday July 12th, BAE SYSTEMS at Warton held a ceremony to unveil the Taranis Unmanned Combat Air Vehicle concept demonstrator which is due to fly in 2011 around 5 years after the programme was launched. The aircraft is the size of … Continue reading →

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Volcanic Ash blowing over Lancashire

Posted on April 15, 2010 by Pete of MIP

Today, flights all over northern Britain have been grounded because of volcanic ash from Iceland. Quite a coincidence to have these northerly winds at the same time as a volcano erupts. Look out for bright sunsets. Many years ago a … Continue reading →

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Green Party and Lancashire

Posted on February 24, 2010 by Pete of MIP

An election is coming so what will some of the parties be offering to the region.  Starting with the Green Party. They deserve a couple of seats in Parliament, I think.  You expect the Green Party to support green policies. Yes, … Continue reading →

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BAE SYSTEMS and SFO

Posted on October 1, 2009 by Pete of MIP

BAE SYSTEMS, the biggest high tech employer in Lancashire and the UK, is in the news today. The Serious Fraud Office are saying they will ask the Attorney General to press charges with a punitive £1000 million fine for offering … Continue reading →

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Potential Redundancies at BAE SYSTEMS announced

Posted on September 15, 2009 by Pete of MIP

BAE SYSTEMS press report says that 375 local jobs will be lost, 205 at Samlesbury and 170 at Warton. In addition in 2012 the Woodford in Manchester site will be closed with a loss of 630 jobs following completion of Nimrod … Continue reading →

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Day Trip to Blackpool – Rolling Stones and Vulcan

Posted on August 9, 2009 by Pete of MIP

I wasn’t going to write but the worst TV programme I’ve ever seen was driving me crazy in the lounge, something about Jam and Jerusalem. Up till then it’s been a good day with full sun and we went to several … Continue reading →

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Eurofighter Typhoon Tranche 3a signed

Posted on July 31, 2009 by Pete of MIP

Announcement today that the UK has ordered another 40 Eurofighter Typhoons and in total the 4 nations involved 112 aircraft. This is just under half of the full Tranche 3 and is being called Tranche 3a. Good employment news in the … Continue reading →

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F35 JSF engine work in East Lancs

Posted on July 29, 2009 by Pete of MIP

Rolls Royce announced it is investing in new plant at its Barnoldswick facility in East Lancashire to make engine fan blades for the Joint Strike Fighter.  The total investment in product development across the UK by RR and the government is valued at £300m.  Earlier in the … Continue reading →

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Typhoon Tranche 3 initial signature

Posted on May 18, 2009 by Pete of MIP

On May 14th the Prime Minister added his signature to the 4 nation requirement that will start negotiations for tranche 3 of Eurofighter Typhoon.  As is often the case the defenders of budgets in the treasury didn’t want to spend … Continue reading →

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English Electric Canberra 60 years old

Posted on April 13, 2009 by Pete of MIP

 Just read Aircraft Illustrated, May 2009, and the big article with loads of pictures about it being 60 years in May since the first flight of the Canberra.  Some interesting stuff about the choice of name that I hadn’t read before. First … Continue reading →

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BAE shares up

Posted on April 8, 2009 by Pete of MIP

I was reading that the US defence budget has been cut and it sent BAE shares up as it’s thought their business might actually increase. At risk are some of the big US projects like the Raptor for which BAE, … Continue reading →

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First of the Few

Posted on February 15, 2009 by Pete of MIP

Watched a DVD – First of the Few - last night, a freeby from the Daily Mail. It’s a wartime propaganda film about the development of the Spitfire. A great story although the film has a few porkies.  What has this got … Continue reading →

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