Slingsby Advanced Composites has been manufacturing at Kirkbymoorside in North Yorkshire since 1934. Founded by Frederick Slingsby as a glider manufacturer, the company pioneered the use of composite materials in aviation from the 1950s onwards, progressing from glass-reinforced plastic sailplanes to carbon fibre military trainers and, today, mission-critical composite structures for aerospace and defence.
Key Milestones
From Wood to Carbon Fibre
The thread connecting Fred Slingsby's first glider to today's defence composite structures is the mastery of lightweight, high-performance materials. Slingsby was working with glass-reinforced plastic as early as the 1950s, well before composites became mainstream in aerospace. That expertise attracted Vickers, who acquired the company in 1969 specifically for its composites capability.
The T.65 Vega (1977) was the first sailplane designed from the outset with a carbon fibre main spar. The T.67 Firefly that followed was redesigned from wood and fabric into an all-composite military trainer, certified to full military standards and operated by six air forces. Each step built the design, manufacturing, and certification expertise that underpins the business today.
The T67M260 Firefly lifts off from Kirkbymoorside, 1993. Photograph: WagTheTaildragger, CC BY 4.0.
Slingsby Today
Today, Slingsby Advanced Composites designs, manufactures, and tests advanced composite structures for aerospace, defence, and marine applications. The company holds AS9100D and NADCAP accreditations and is an approved supplier to some of the world's leading defence and aerospace primes.
The site at Kirkbymoorside, where Fred Slingsby set up in 1934, remains the sole manufacturing facility: over 12 000 square metres of design, layup, autoclave, machining, assembly, and test capability.
As part of the Axvik Group, Slingsby enters its next chapter with the backing of a focused aerospace and defence investor and the heritage of Britain's most enduring composites innovator.
Testing composites at Slingsby Advanced Composites manufacturing facility Kirkbymoorside,
Our Aviation Heritage
From Fred Slingsby's Military Medal in the Royal Flying Corps to World Championship-winning sailplanes, military troop gliders, hovercraft, and submarine rescue vehicles, the full story of Slingsby's first six decades spans the history of British aviation.
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