Martinsyde

Martinsyde was a British aircraft and motorcycle manufacturer based at Woking and Brooklands in Surrey. It began in 1908 as a partnership between H. P. Martin and George Handasyde, trading as Martin and Handasyde, and built an early but unsuccessful aircraft at Hendon Aerodrome before moving to Brooklands. The firm was renamed Martinsyde Ltd in 1912 and moved into a larger new factory at Woking. During the First World War it produced several designs, among them the S.1 Scout biplane and a larger machine nicknamed the Elephant, and it also built aircraft under subcontract. In 1919 it diversified into motorcycles, making V-twin machines first badged Martinsyde-Newman. At the 1920 Olympia aero exhibition attention fell on its Semi-quaver single-seater, which had set a British speed record of 161.4 mph. Creditors applied to wind the company up in 1920 and it went into liquidation in 1923, after which its motorcycle stock and manufacturing rights passed to the BAT Motor Co.