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GKN Aerospace
Portsmouth, together with Portsmouth Aviation and Hants & Sussex Aviation, are now all that remain of the once large aircraft manufacturing base at Portsmouth Airport which built aircraft such as the
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in service. In response to this, the company started to develop flexible fuel bladders in the early 1940s. One of the earliest examples of this was a composite flexible fuel bladder with self-sealing coatings for the
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184:. Finding the advanced composite business that Westlands had developed attractive, GKN retained the other Westland companies and renamed them GKN Aerospace.
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GKN Aerospace
Portsmouth, as the business is now known, still manufactures self-sealing fuel tanks, and other fuel systems as well as helicopter EFS.
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The intention of the board of directors was to commence work on the manufacture of self-sealing fuel tanks for aircraft entering service with the
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structure, with the sealing material applied as a composite layer on the outside. A major problem with welded aluminium tanks is
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formulation, moulding, and sheet production in order to remain a leader in other specialist markets such as the creation of
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120:, the company became so important to the hovercraft industry that the now renamed FPT Industries was bought by the
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During this time, FPT Industries diversified again by developing advanced materials for helicopter
191:(EFS) and now manufactures EFS equipment for many large commercial and military helicopter types.
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Plc, which restructured the businesses before selling its shares in
Westland Helicopters to
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which, although obsolete, was regarded as a front line bomber by the Royal Air Force.
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in response to an Air
Ministry requirement for the development and manufacture of
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Not to be confused with FPT Group, a
Vietnamese information technology company.
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design and hovercraft construction. This paid dividends with advances in
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and a period of stability came as
Westlands developed cutting edge
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The
British Hovercraft Corporation was bought out by
100:, Fireproof Tanks Ltd developed new technologies in
144:manufacture as part of its approach to advanced
172:In the 1990s, Westland Group was purchased by
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96:During the war years and into the emerging
128:Rationalisation of the aircraft industry
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16:British aerospace engineering company
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260:Aerospace engineering organizations
14:
56:, the highest priority being the
67:The early tanks were of welded
122:British Hovercraft Corporation
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168:Post-1990 and the GKN buyout
189:emergency flotation systems
45:for the impending war with
25:was formed in July 1939 as
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208:Hawker Siddeley Trident
206:and components for the
43:self-sealing fuel tanks
108:skirts. Working with
33:) as a subsidiary of
156:, later seen on the
134:Westland Helicopters
86:Supermarine Spitfire
79:in the seams due to
29:(commonly known as
27:Fireproof Tanks Ltd
142:composite material
39:Portsmouth Airport
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245:GKN page on FPT
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200:Airspeed Oxford
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152:design such as
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60:single engined
54:Royal Air Force
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239:External links
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228:"Failure Page"
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23:FPT Industries
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110:Saunders Roe
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35:Airspeed Ltd
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154:BERP rotors
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214:References
146:helicopter
106:hovercraft
73:weld decay
124:in 1966.
81:vibration
69:aluminium
254:Category
92:Post-war
116:on the
98:jet age
47:Germany
202:, the
178:Agusta
138:Yeovil
102:rubber
88:MkIX.
62:bomber
182:Italy
162:EH101
114:Cowes
160:and
75:and
180:of
174:GKN
136:of
112:at
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31:FPT
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