The company was formed as Percival Aircraft Co. in Gravesend (Kent, UK) in 1933 by Edgar Percival to produce his own designs. Restructured in 1936, it became Percival Aircraft Ltd, and moved to Luton Airport.
The company became part of the Hunting Group in 1944. Percival, who had resigned from the board to serve in the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve during the war sold his remaining interest in the company at that point. It changed its name to Hunting Percival Aircraft in 1954 and then to Hunting Aircraft in 1957.
In 1960 the company was taken over by the British Aircraft Corporation (BAC), itself formed earlier that year through the merger of the Bristol Aeroplane Company, English Electric Aviation and Vickers-Armstrongs.
BAC became part of British Aerospace in 1977, since 1999 BAE Systems.
Percival Prentice
The Percival Prentice is a basic trainer of the Royal Air Force in the early postwar period. It was a low-wing monoplane with a fixed tailwheel undercarriage. Front seating was in a side-by-side configuration with a rear seat provided. From 1948-1959 the trainer was in IAF service.
Percival Prentice (T.3), registration IX-3368, built ????, serial number ???? Indian Air Force Museum, Delhi, India, 28 April 2018
