Page 35 - High Duty Alloys
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High Duty Alloys Redditch Heritage
A Remarkable Record
Concorde.
It is a fact that every major British aircraft built since 1928 has had some parts produced
by High Duty Alloys. As a gesture of thanks, the RAF's acrobatic display team, The Red
Arrows, flew their Hawk jets in formation over the Redditch factory on June 9, 1980,
leaving their trademark trail of coloured smoke. However, the firm has also diversified
with the manufacture of items such as car door hinges and scaffolding, motorbike
con-rods and artificial ankle and knee joints. Indeed, if it moved, then HDA was on it
somewhere and both Britain's High Speed train and the London Underground benefited
from HDA components. Some of the biggest forgings ever made at Redditch were
propeller blades for the cross-channel Hovercraft. In 1982 aluminium wheels were
produced for Richard Noble's Thrust 2 World Speed Record car and later a set was
delivered for the Thrust SSC (Supersonic Car) which broke the sound barrier in October
1997. The firm's wartime piston experience did not go to waste either finding application
on Formula One motor racing engines for many years.
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