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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.
The development of Cobham would not have been possible without the
passion, commitment and talent of its employees, to whom the Cobham
75 book is dedicated. |
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.
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