Editing Hatfield, Hertfordshire (section)

===Aerospace industry===
[[File:Hatfield, The Comet hotel - geograph.org.uk - 209701.jpg|thumb|The Comet; the carving of the pillar is by [[Eric Kennington]]; the aircraft is not the original ]]

In 1930 the [[de Havilland]] [[Hatfield Aerodrome|airfield and aircraft factory]] was opened at Hatfield and by 1949 it had become the largest employer in the town, with almost 4,000 staff.<ref name=brett/> It was taken over by [[Hawker Siddeley]] in 1960 and merged into [[British Aerospace]] in 1978.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://hatfieldaviationheritage.co.uk/hatfield-aerodrome/ |title=Hatfield's Aviation Heritage » Hatfield Aerodrome |access-date=31 May 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150503124104/http://hatfieldaviationheritage.co.uk/hatfield-aerodrome/ |archive-date=3 May 2015 |url-status=dead }}</ref> In the 1930s it produced a range of small biplanes. During the [[Second World War]] it produced the [[de Havilland Mosquito|Mosquito]] fighter bomber and developed the [[de Havilland Vampire|Vampire]], the second British production jet aircraft after the Gloster Meteor. After the war, facilities were expanded and it developed the [[de Havilland Comet|Comet]] airliner (the world's first production jet liner), the [[Hawker Siddeley Trident|Trident]] airliner, and an early [[bizjet]], the [[BAe 125|DH125]].

British Aerospace closed the Hatfield site in 1993 having moved the [[British Aerospace 146|BAe 146]] production line to [[Woodford Aerodrome]]. The land was used as a film set for [[Steven Spielberg]]'s movie ''[[Saving Private Ryan]]'' and most of the [[BBC]]/[[Home Box Office|HBO]] television drama ''[[Band of Brothers (TV miniseries)|Band of Brothers]]''. It was later developed for housing, higher education, commerce and retail.

Today, Hatfield's aviation history is remembered by the names of certain local streets and pubs (e. g. Comet Way, The Airfield, Dragon Road) as well as ''The Comet Hotel'' (now owned by Ramada) built in the 1930s. ''The Harrier Pub'' (formerly ''The Hilltop'') is actually named after the [[Harrier (bird)|Harrier bird]], not the aircraft, hence the original pub sign showing the bird. The [[de Havilland Aircraft Heritage Centre]], at Salisbury Hall in nearby London Colney, preserves and displays many historic de Havilland aeroplanes and related archives.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.dehavillandmuseum.co.uk/ |title=de Havilland Aircraft Museum |website=dehavillandmuseum.co.uk |language=en-US |access-date=2018-11-26}}</ref>