Reid and Sigrist
Encyclopedia
Reid and Sigrist was a British engineering company based at Desford
, Leicestershire, England. They were an instrument manufacturer in the interwar era, specialising in aircraft applications mainly producing aircraft parts and instruments but later became a Camera manufacturer. During the second world war it was also involved in aircraft maintenance.
and the company was set up to supply parts for Hawker aircraft.
In 1937 the company formed an aviation division at the New Malden
, Surrey factory site.The first product was a twin-engined advanced trainer, the R.S.1 "Snargasher"
(1939) which was eventually relegated to company "hack" used primarily at the factory and Desford aerodrome.
Desford
Desford is a village and civil parish in the North West Leicestershire district, west of the centre of Leicester. The parish includes the hamlets of Botcheston and Newtown Unthank and a scattered settlement at Lindridge.-Manors:...
, Leicestershire, England. They were an instrument manufacturer in the interwar era, specialising in aircraft applications mainly producing aircraft parts and instruments but later became a Camera manufacturer. During the second world war it was also involved in aircraft maintenance.
History
Fred Sigrist was a Managing Director of Hawker AircraftHawker Aircraft
Hawker Aircraft Limited was a British aircraft manufacturer responsible for some of the most famous products in British aviation history.-History:...
and the company was set up to supply parts for Hawker aircraft.
Aircraft instruments
The company main product was aircraft instruments with the most notable being a Turn & Slip indicatorTurn and bank indicator
In aviation, the turn and bank indicator shows the rate of turn and the coordination of the turn. The rate of turn is indicated from a rate gyroscopically and the coordination of the turn is shown by either a pendulum or a heavy ball mounted in a curved sealed glass tube. No pitch information is...
Aircraft production
New Malden
New Malden is a town and shopping centre in the south-western London suburbs, mostly within the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames and partly in the London Borough of Merton, and is situated from Charing Cross...
, Surrey factory site.The first product was a twin-engined advanced trainer, the R.S.1 "Snargasher"
Reid and Sigrist R.S.1
|-References:* Gunston, Bill. Back to the Drawing Board: Aircraft That Flew, but Never Took Off. London: Zenith Imprint, 1996. ISBN 0-76030-316-9....
(1939) which was eventually relegated to company "hack" used primarily at the factory and Desford aerodrome.
- R.S.1 SnargasherReid and Sigrist R.S.1|-References:* Gunston, Bill. Back to the Drawing Board: Aircraft That Flew, but Never Took Off. London: Zenith Imprint, 1996. ISBN 0-76030-316-9....
- R.S.3 DesfordReid and Sigrist R.S.3|-See also:-References:NotesBibliography* Gunston, Bill. Back to the Drawing Board: Aircraft That Flew, but Never Took Off. London: Zenith Imprint, 1996. ISBN 0-76030-316-9....
Cameras
After the Second World War the company were requested by the British government to produce the Reid camera based on the Leica patents and drawings which had been seized by the Allies. The first camera went on general sale in 1951 and the company produced cameras until 1964.- Reid III based on the Leica IIILeica IIIThe Leica III is a rangefinder camera introduced by Leica in 1933, and produced in parallel with the Leica II series. Several models were produced over the years, with significant improvements....
series with production of about 1600 cameras from 1951.
- Reid I a simplified version and a similar to the Leica E on sale from 1958 with a production run of about 500 mainly to the British military.
- Reid II was a proposed model announced in 1959, a Reid III without the slower speeds. It did not enter production.