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During WW1 Lincolnshire based firms produced more aircraft for the RFC, RNAS and RAF than any other county.

In 1915, David Lloyd George said: 鈥淭his is an Engineers鈥� War鈥� 鈥� Lincolnshire鈥檚 engineers and workers are testament to that.

Ruston Proctor & Co. Ltd received an order in January 1915 for one hundred BE2c aircraft. The firm rapidly expanded to become one of the leading companies in this field producing 2,750 aeroplanes and 4,000 aero engines.

Robey & Co Ltd and Clayton & Shuttleworth Ltd later won contracts to produce aircraft.

Before the war the companies were primarily involved in building agricultural machinery.
One in fourteen British aircraft in the great war was made in Lincoln.

The West Common and the city鈥檚 racecourse became the No 4 Aircraft Acceptance Park. Here was where the aircraft were assembled, where the test flights were carried out by the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and where the aircraft left Lincoln to join their squadrons.

Made in Lincoln: Sopwith Camel, Snipe, Triplane, Gunbus, The Short 184 Seaplane, The Robey Peters Fighting Machine and the Handley Page 0/400 Bomber.

Location: Lincoln, Lincolnshire LN5
Image: First flight of the first Robey built Gunbus (background) on the West Common. Harry Hawker (the founder of the Hawker Aircraft company/Sopwith rep) is pictured second from the left with J A Peters behind and Billy Bell (Robey鈥檚 MD) in the straw boater. Photograph courtesy of Newark Air Museum.

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