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Beagle Aircraft Limited was a British light aircraft manufacturer. The company produced the Beagle Airedale, Beagle Terrier, Beagle 206, Beagle Husky and the Beagle Pup. It had factories at Rearsby in Leicestershire and Shoreham-by-Sea in Sussex. The company was dissolved in 1969.
Beagle took over two separate aircraft manufacturers, Auster Aircraft of Rearsby, Leicestershire and Miles Aircraft of Shoreham, Sussex,Wenham 2015, pp. 11-21. both of which also had design offices. Initially the arrangement with F.G Miles was a "technical association" as Fred Miles had no intention of selling out to BeagleWenham 2015, p. 17. but eventually George Miles was appointed Technical Director for the Beagle GroupWenham 2015, p. 19. and F.G Miles was a director of Beagle-Miles,Wenham 2015, p. 72. with a formal takeover beingHitchman 2006 p. 34. completed in February 1961.Wenham 2015, p. 21.
Initially the three parts of the company operated independently, the Rearsby factory as Beagle-Auster LimitedJackson 1974, p. 187. and the Shoreham factory as Beagle-Miles Limited. This did not last long and the three parts of the company were merged as Beagle Aircraft Limited in 1962.Wenham 2015, p. 28.
The company lacked direction from the start, with poor strategic decisions made based on over-optimistic predictions while projects were delayed and costs spiralled.Hitchman 2006 pp. 48-52. Masefield had a vision of producing large numbers, possibly between 400 and 1000 aircraft per year, of many different types of light aircraft. At the same time he was wildly optimistic about the ease of producing such numbers, seemingly ignoring the costs involved.Wenham 2015, pp. 22-23. The Miles brothers had the view that Masefield was "intent on creating an organisation out of all proportion to what it was trying to achieve".Wenham 2015, p. 24. The decision to build the Airedale and Terrier as "interim" aircraft was a costly error; by March 1962 it had cost £511,000 to produce the first 25 Airedales, which sold with difficulty for a basic price of £5,500 each, with a predicted break-even figure of over 600 sales.Wenham 2015, p. 59.
In 1962 a net loss of £2.1 million was recorded and Pressed Steel had already given thought to pulling out.Hitchman 2006 p. 56. In July 1963, George Miles resigned, saying "Manufacturing plans and policies have been wild and chaotic. The present situation ... is obviously hopelessly uneconomic."Hitchman 2006 p. 59. In 1965 the parent company Pressed Steel was acquired by the British Motor Corporation,Wenham 2015, p. 108 who reviewed the involvement in light aircraft manufacturing and requested financial help from the British Government. The British government bought Beagle in December 1966Wenham 2015, p. 295 and provided the help needed. When the company needed more financial help in 1969, the Government put the company into receivership amidst much Parliamentary recrimination.Hitchman 2006 pp. 74-75.Wenham 2015, p. 350. The Receiver tried to revive and sell the company (now renamed Beagle Aircraft (1969) Limited), but failed and the company assets were disposed of by the liquidator.Hitchman 2006 p. 76.
The first aircraft made by Beagle were developed from Auster designs: the Airedale, Terrier and D5/180 Husky. The Airedale and Terrier were intended as stop-gap designs to keep production shops busy and to be sold whilst more modern designs were developedWenham 2015, p. 66. However, Beagle lost almost £500,000 on the Airedale, due to its old design, poor performance and high cost; the Terrier was also not profitable, due to the extensive number of man-hours in conversionHitchman 2006, p. 64. and, again, the age of the design. The Beagle Husky was made in very small numbers and each was sold at a significant loss, while the Beagle Mark Eleven project was another expensive sideline.Wenham 2015, pp. 32–34. In 1968, the Auster assets (including all spares, jigs and partly completed airframes) were sold to Hants and Sussex Aviation in order to make room for the production of the Pup.
In 1967 the single-engined Beagle Pup made its first flight and was made and sold in greater numbers until the company's bankruptcy. The receiver sold a number of incomplete Pup aircraft which were then completed by other companies. At the time of the company's bankruptcy in 1969, the military Bulldog was being developed from the Pup by Beagle; Bulldog production was then completed by Scottish Aviation at their Prestwick factory following the demise of the Beagle Aircraft company. At the turn of the 21st Century, many Bulldogs were being sold by air forces to civilian operators, in much the same way that Austers were transferred from Army or RAF squadrons during the 1940s and 1950s.
Beagle also collaborated with Ken Wallis in building five Wallis WA-116 autogyros at Shoreham in 1962 for evaluation by the British Army. This collaboration ended when the British Army chose the Westland Sioux for this role.
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