Founded by Jack Cross, it is most famous for its rebuilding work on de Havilland DH.88 Comet racer G-ACSS and Percival Mew Gull G-AEXF.
[1][3] The company quickly rose to fame when Arthur Clouston and F. E. Tasker commissioned Essex to rebuild de Havilland DH.88 Comet G-ACSS, winner of the 1934 MacRobertson England-Australia Air Race under the name of Grosvenor House, which they had purchased from a scrap dealer.
[5] When Alex Henshaw procured Percival Mew Gull G-AEXF, the success of Essex Aero with the Comet led him to choose them to undertake a major redesign of his own sleek little racer.
They undertook major airframe and systems modifications, including slimmed-down fuselage and wheel spats, even replacing the pilot's seat with a sheet of foam rubber laid on the cockpit floor.
[6] Essex Aero also played a leading role in the development of the lightweight "slipper" drop tanks introduced on the Spitfire and Seafire to extend their range, initially in the defence of Malta.
[1] In 1947 Essex Aero began construction of a small, low-cost light aircraft entirely made from magnesium alloys, and to be produced in quantity using mass-production techniques.
[8] During the war, unable to expand their main factory due to is closeness to the aerodrome, Essex Aero had established several other manufacturing sites locally.