Saunders-Roe Limited

Saunders-Roe, often abbreviated to Saro, was an amphibious aircraft manufacturer based on the Isle of Wight. It was established in 1929 when Alliott Verdon-Roe left Avro and, along with John Lord, acquired the boat building company S.E. Saunders. This company had produced some amphibious aircraft previously but production was increased under its new owners. Despite this boat production continued and it was responsible for producing lifeboats for the Royal National Lifeboat Institute.

In 1931 Whitehall Securities, part of the S. Pearson Group, took a large stake in the company and in 1933 merged it with Spartan Aircraft. The Spartan name would continue to be used on some aircraft. The same year also saw the death of Samuel Edgar Saunders and the establishment of Spartan Airways. This was based at Somerton Airfield but by the end of the year, it was part of Southern Railway and operated as part of the Railways Air Services network.

During the late 1930 the company began to focus on the construction of flying boats and marketed under the name Saro. At this time it would split the shipyard and boat-building side of its operation into a wholly owned subsidiary, Saunders Shipyards Limited. It would also separate its plywood business into Saro Laminated Wood Products Limited, again wholly owned by Saunders-Roe Limited.

During the Second World War Saunders-Roe was involved in the maintenance of Catalina flying boats and the production of Walrus and Sea Otter aircraft for Supermarine. It would also establish a new facility on Anglesey.

In 1947 the company experimented with jet engines producing the SR.A/1 flying boat but this project was cancelled in 1950. Another programme the company invested in, the large Princess flying boat was also cancelled due to changes in the aviation industry that led to the obsolesce of large water-based aircraft.

1951 saw Saunders-Roe acquire the Cierva Autogiro Company and move into helicopter production. One of the designs that was being worked on by the company’s new acquisition was the Skeeter, which would go on to be manufactured under the Saunders-Roe name. It would also later produce the Scout and Wasp, making helicopters the focus of the company and it produced its last fixed-wing design in 1958, the jet and rocket-propelled SR53.

In 1959 the company produced the first practical hovercraft, the SR-N1, as part of an order by the National Research Development Corporation. This appeared on 11th June 1959 and was based on the design of Christopher Cockerell. The same year would see S. Pearson and Son sell Saunders-Roe to Westland Aircraft as part of a government decision to reduce the number of British aircraft manufacters.