In the 1930s Cobham's "Flying Circus" introduced thousands of people to flight and did much to promote the aeroplane as a reliable mode of transport.

Aviation adventurer, explorer, pioneer - Sir Alan Cobham was all these. He rose to prominence at a pivotal point in history, when the aeroplane needed champions to rescue it from the realms of just being a daredevil hobby and to set it on the path to become an efficient and effective form of transportation.

To many people, Sir Alan will be remembered as the mastermind of Cobham's Flying Circus tours in England and South Africa in the 1930s. These travelling recreational aircraft brought flight within the reach of an entire generation, with some three million people paying to see the shows, and an adventurous one million people taking part.

But it was Sir Alan's vision for air-to-air refuelling which eventually resulted in the formation of Flight Refuelling Ltd in 1934, the forerunner of Cobham plc.

The adoption of Cobham's 'looped hose' refuelling system by the US Air Force in 1949 finally set the company on the path to production on an industrial scale. It also inspired the development of the company's revolutionary probe and drogue method of refuelling, which is still manufactured in its fourth generation form today.

Sir Alan's vision and determination nursed the company through a difficult birth to maturity. But it was his second son Sir Michael who, after joining the company in 1954 and taking the reins on Sir Alan's retirement in 1969, steered the company through its vital next phase of development and onto the path of sustained growth.

New Horizons

By the late 1980s Cobham was a Group with revenues of £154 million per year. But awareness that the large and growing United States market held great untapped potential for Cobham led to the beginning of an acquisition phase that is still fundamental to the Group's growth strategy.

With a portfolio of more than 50 acquisitions acquired over 30 years, Cobham undertook a strategic review of its operations in 2005, convinced that this high level of growth could be accelerated by focusing on high-technology sectors and by increased teamwork among Cobham companies.

In 2008 this increased collaboration led to the next logical evolution of the company with the development of strategic businesses units and the re-branding of all Cobham businesses worldwide. Under a refreshed Cobham brand, for the first time in its 75 year history, the true size and diversity of Cobham became visible to the marketplace and its employees.

Today Cobham is known as an aerospace and defence innovator, a specialist in the application of technology that protects lives and livelihoods, proud that the most important thing it builds is trust.

The Group's communications and radar subsystems are at the heart of many of the world's most capable platforms and soldier systems, such as the Eurofighter Typhoon and Lockheed F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, as well as naval vessels, satellites and military vehicles.

In its 75th year the company enjoys a position in the FTSE 100, employs 12,000 people on five continents and has an annual revenue approaching £2 billion. Only four Chief Executives have overseen this impressive growth since 1934, a quite remarkable achievement in such modern times.

Cobham's Flying Circus provided a flying spectacle for literally hundreds of towns in the United Kingdom and South Africa in the 1930s, using a range of aircraft including one designed specifically for the task, the Airspeed Ferry.

Cobham's equipment has been at the centre of many "firsts" in aviation. In March 1949 US Air Force B-50A "Lucky Lady II" completed a non-stop around the world flight in 94 hours, refuelled with Cobham's "looped hose" system.

Cobham's company was the first civil contractor to join the Berlin Airlift in 1949 and the last to leave - its 12 fuel tankers delivered more than seven million gallons of vital fuel and heating oil to the beleagured German capital.