The Society of British Aircraft Constructors Ltd Archive

The Society of British Aircraft Constructors (SBAC) was the trade body for the British aerospace industry. As well as lobbying for the interests of the industry, it organised the Farnborough Air Show. The organistation later became known as the Society of British Aerospace Companies.

The Society of British Aircraft Constructors (SBAC) In 1915, with the First World War underway, a number of British aircraft manufacturers and industrialists, including George Holt Thomas, Herbert Austin, Frederick Handley Page, Humphrey Verdon Roe and E Parker (Short Brothers), determined to set up a standards body and production pooling system for aircraft manufacture. The group agreed to share their designs with third-party factories as well as with those being run directly by the government, so that new aircraft could be produced quickly when required. More than 40 companies had joined the group when it was officially established in 1916 as the Society of British Aircraft Constructors. It became the trade body for the fledgling British aviation industry and lobbied on behalf of the sector.

The Society of British Aircraft Constructors organised its first flying and static display at Hendon aerodrome in 1932. The show became an annual event, held at Hendon 1932-35, at the De Havilland works at Hatfield in 1936, at the Handley Page works at Radlett 1946-47 and at Farnborough from 1948 to date. It is today known as the Farnborough International Airshow and is an important trade fair for the aerospace and defence industries. The Society of British Aircraft Constructors changed its name to the Society of British Aerospace Companies in 1964.

In 2009 it merged with the Defence Manufacturers Association and the Association of Police and Public Security Suppliers to form a new private, limited by guarantee, company called ADS Group Ltd. As a trade organisation representing the UK aerospace, defence, security and space industries, ADS Group has around 1,100 member companies. Farnborough International Ltd, which runs the Farnborough International Airshow, is a wholly-owned subsidiary of ADS Group Ltd.

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