How Many of the Great Aircraft Designers Could Fly?

Desmond Norman – BN-1, Islander, Firecraker (piston and turbine), Fieldmaster, Nymph and Freelance. And I think I am right in saying he always did the first flight on type himself.

Now that IS commitment.

Thanks Archer – forgot he had been design chief before becoming MD.

May I also nominate Maxine (Blossom) Miles

Engraver, costume designer, gardener and aircraft designer.

1901 19 October: Maxine Frances Mary was born, daughter of Sir Johnston Forbes Robertson (1853–1937), actor and theatre manager, and (Mary) Gertrude Dermot (1874–1950), an American actress.
1919 She was presented as a debutante. On some occasions she appeared on stage with other members of her family.
1924 Married Inigo Freeman-Thomas, who later became 2nd Marquess of Willingdon.

1930 She and her husband joined the Southern Aero Club. Their flying instructor was Frederick George Miles.

1932 Her husband divorced Blossom, citing Miles as co-respondent. Soon afterwards Fred and Blossom married. Together they designed the Miles M1 Satyr, a single-seat biplane which was built for them by George Parnall and Co[1]. Miles and Blossom had one son and one daughter.

Blossom displayed a largely intuitive understanding of aircraft behaviour in their designs; she performed the stress analysis for the Hawk and contributed to other designs up to the Magister.
Following the success of the Hawk, they joined Phillips and Powis Aircraft, where Fred became technical director and chief designer
1935 Frederick Miles decided to fly one of his own machines in the King’s Cup air race only 2 months before the event. Blossom was responsible for redesigning a Hawk, and chasing it through production. The same plane was reconstructed 22 years later as the Sparrowhawk, the first jet plane to win the King’s Cup.

1938 One of 5 Commissioners of the Civil Air Guard, established in July 1938 to encourage and subsidise pilot training.

Info from Graces guide

Was George Edwards a designer?

Beginning as a design draughtsman in 1935, he was promoted in 1940 to Experimental Department Manager and in 1945 he became the Chief Designer of the Vickers-Armstrongs team that produced the Viking airliner, Valetta military transport, Varsity trainer, Viscount airliners and Valiant strategic bomber. He later became managing director of the company, supervising the development of the Vanguard, VC10 and (post-merger) BAC TSR-2 strike bomber.

From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Edwards_%28aviation%29

There is a legend that if a pilot touches or momentarily wears Igor’s fedora, he will never be injured in a helicopter.
His son, who is still with us, had it in his factory office and made it available to visitors and pilots picking up new machines.

Sikorsky is one of the greats…and by all accounts, was a nice man.

Suggested further reading:
Heelicopter: Pioneering with Igor Sikorsky by Hunt
Igor Sikorsky: The Russian Years by Fine
Whirlybirds by Spencer (a excellent history of 4 helicopter pioneers)
The Story of the Winged S: his autobiography written in 1938 and updated. My autographed copy is from 1943 and has “new material on latest developments” of helicopters

In one of the books there is a harrowing account of his escape from Russia. As a member of the upper class, he was marked for death by the communists and only barely escaped.

It’s also said he saw the helicopter as a life saver and saw armed machines as “the snake in the garden” to quote one biographer.

You beat me to it LOL
I was going to nominate him as the inventor of ‘cool’ flying gear : )

Photo copyright/courtesy of sikorsky archive

Basv,
Don’t forget to include his legendary hat!!

http://www.sikorskyarchives.com/The_Fedora.php

May I nominate Igor Sikorsky !!
He also did a great deal of his own test flying…

1909 H-1, Igor constructed his First helicopter “This machine was a failure to the extent that it could not fly. In other respects it was a very important and necessary stepping stone.”

1910 S-2, Igor Sikorsky Flew for the First time

1911 S-5, Igor’s First pilot license issued from the Imperial Aero Club of Russia

1912 S-6A won First place in the Moscow Aircraft Competition, pilot Igor Sikorsky

1913 S-9 First monocoque fuselage constructed in Russia

1913 S-10 establish a Russian Aviation Record flying 500 kilometers in 4 hrs and 56 min

1913 S-12 First Russian designed aircraft capable of a loop

1913 S-12 Established a Russian Altitude Record of 3,680m

1913 Igor Sikorsky flew the S-21 “Grand” the World’s First successful four-engine plane

1913 S-21 set a World’s Record for duration and literally set one World’s Record after another for a four-engine plane with each flight

1913 S-10 & S-11 won First and Second place in the Petrograd Military Competition

And later in the USA…
1939 VS-300 First single main rotor helicopter successfully produced in the World and literally set one World’s Record after another with each flight .

1940 Igor Sikorsky is awarded Connecticut Helicopter License No. 1 1941 VS-300 breaks the World helicopter endurance record, 1 hour, 32 minutes and 26.1 seconds

1941 VS-300 fitted with rubber floats was the World’s First practical amphibian helicopter

1942 XR-4 World’s First production helicopter is delivered and this is the first cross-country flight of a helicopter in the United States

1943 R-4 First mass produced helicopter

Alexander de Seversky – combat pilot, amputee, emigre, aircraft designer (P-35, P-43 which became the P-47), industrialist (until forced out of his own company which became Republic Aircraft) and air power theorist; his ‘Victory through Airpower’ becoming a classic Disney wartime propaganda fest. Pretty diverse bio!

Though not totally historic since he’s still very much alive and designing, I don’t think we can leave out Richard VanGrunsven, the pilot/designer of the RV light aircraft.

Moggy

Ed Heinemann?

I don’t believe he had a license, I do know he went up in the back of a TA-4 once and that was the only time he flew in one of his fighters.

Was George Edwards a designer?

W T Piper could fly – the seats in the early Cub was redesigned after he complained about them after delivering a new Cub to a distant customer. But no, he did not design.

Another two that come to mind are Steve Wittman and Ken Wallis. Although I’m not sure whether they were great designers who could fly, or great flyers who could design.

No one has mentioned Sir George Edwards yet. He did his test for the multi engine rating on the BAC company Dove.

Sopwith could fly, but was not a designer. Herbert Smith designed the great Sopwith aircraft (and the less successful ones too).

Willy Messerschmitt could fly, but did not get his coveted Royal Bavarian Air Force pilot badge in 1918 (pulled out of training into aircraft design work).

Kurt Tank also did not get to fly until after 1918. During the war, his commanding officer repeatedly “lost” requests for flight training.

Leroy Grumman, yes.
Grover Loening, yes

Jean Delemontez (of Jodel fame). Seem to recall he used to fly into the PFA Rally in the 1990s… Not sure if Edouard Joly (the Jo of Jodel) was a pilot.

Yes as far as I know they both flew, but I didn’t realise Jean Delmontez flew into the PFA Rallies though. I remember Volker Teske (probably spelt it all wrong) the German guy doing fantastic displays in his Jodel D120:).

Don’t think so????: Douglass, Northrup

Douglas (one “s’): I don’t think so. He studied at the Naval Academy, taught at MIT, and the martin company, but I don’t find any mention of him being a licensed pilot.

Jack Northrop….not the often misspelled “up”…did have a license. Not only did he design the multi -spar wings that made the DC-2 and 3 a success, he also designed the Lockheed Vega and its variants as well as founded two firms…one that eventually became part of Douglas, the other built the P-61, F-89 and F-5/T-38 series and designed the F-17/F-18.