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Bill Waterton
William Arthur Waterton, AFC & Bar, GM (18 March 1916 – 17 April 2006) was a Canadian and British test pilot, squadron leader and correspondent for the '' Daily Express''. He was awarded the George Medal for saving the flight data when he landed at great risk the prototype Gloster Javelin after it lost its controls during a test flight. Early years Born in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada in 1916, W. A. Waterton was brought up in Camrose, Alberta, where his father was chief of police. His family originally came from north Sydenham Township and settled in Owen Sound, Ontario. He was interested in flying from an early age.Armitage, Andrew"Ace test pilot was once a British celebrity and household name." ''Owen Sound Library,'' (article first appeared in the ''(Owen Sound) The Sun Times,'' 11 February 2011). Retrieved 12 March 2011. Like many aviators of his generation, he made his first flight when a barnstormer visited Camrose in 1931. Aviation career Second World War Entering th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Edmonton
Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city anchors the north end of what Statistics Canada defines as the " Calgary–Edmonton Corridor". As of 2021, Edmonton had a city population of 1,010,899 and a metropolitan population of 1,418,118, making it the fifth-largest city and sixth-largest metropolitan area (CMA) in Canada. Edmonton is North America's northernmost large city and metropolitan area comprising over one million people each. A resident of Edmonton is known as an ''Edmontonian''. Edmonton's historic growth has been facilitated through the absorption of five adjacent urban municipalities ( Strathcona, North Edmonton, West Edmonton, Beverly and Jasper Place) hus Edmonton is said to be a combination of two cities, two towns and two villages./ref> in addition to a series ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
RAF Ferry Command
RAF Ferry Command was the secretive Royal Air Force command formed on 20 July 1941 to ferry urgently needed aircraft from their place of manufacture in the United States and Canada, to the front line operational units in Britain, Europe, North Africa and the Middle East during the Second World War. It was later subsumed into the new Transport Command on 25 March 1943 by being reduced to Group status. History The practice of ferrying aircraft from US manufacturers to the UK was begun by the Ministry of Aircraft Production. Its minister, Lord Beaverbrook, a Canadian by origin, reached an agreement with Sir Edward Beatty, a friend and chairman of the Canadian Pacific Railway Company, to provide ground facilities and support. MAP would discretely provide civilian crews and management. Previously, aircraft were being assembled then disassembled and then transported by ship across the Atlantic, and were subject to long delays and frequent attacks by German U-Boats. Former RAF off ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Supermarine Attacker
The Supermarine Attacker is a British single-seat naval jet fighter designed and produced by aircraft manufacturer Supermarine for the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm (FAA). The type has the distinction of being the first jet fighter to enter operational service with the FAA.Bingham 2004, p. 109. In order to rapidly introduce jet aircraft to Navy service, Supermarine proposed adapting their most advanced piston-powered design, the Supermarine Spiteful, with a new fuselage for the Rolls-Royce Nene engine. Performing its maiden flight on 27 July 1946, the flight testing phase of development was protracted due to several issues, including handling difficulties. The first Attackers were introduced to FAA service in August 1951. Common to the majority of other first-generation jet fighters, the Attacker had a relatively short service life before being replaced; this was due to increasingly advanced aircraft harnessing the jet engine being rapidly developed during the 1950s and 1960s. D ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mike Lithgow
Michael John Lithgow, OBE (30 August 1920 – 22 October 1963) was a British aviator and chief test pilot for Vickers Supermarine who became the holder of the World Absolute Air Speed Record in 1953 flying a Supermarine Swift. He died when the prototype BAC One-Eleven airliner crashed in 1963. Early life Mike Lithgow was born on 30 August 1920 and educated at Cheltenham College. Second World War Joined Fleet Air Arm March 1939 – December 1945 As a Lieutenant Commander on the HMS ''Ark Royal'' he flew Swordfish torpedo bombers, and was one of the pilots attacking the Bismarckfamily history Test Pilot He retired from the Navy and moved to Vickers Supermarine as a test pilot in January 1946 and became the company's chief test pilot two years later. In September 1946 he took part in the Lympne high speed air race, flying a Supermarine Seafang, competing against Bill Humble in a Hawker Fury, Geoffrey de Havilland in a D.H. Vampire and G.H Pike in a D.H. Hornet On ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gloster E
Gloster may refer to: People with the surname * Elizabeth Gloster (born 1949), English judge * J. Gary Gloster (born 1936), American bishop in The Episcopal Church * John Gloster (born before 1998), Australian physiotherapist who works with cricket teams * Tracey Gloster, British biochemist People with the given name * Gloster Richardson (born 1942), American football player * Gloster Udy (19182003), Australian Uniting Church minister and author Places * Actis, California (formerly Highberg, Rummington, and Gloster), an unincorporated community in Kern County * Gloster, Georgia, an unincorporated community * Gloster, Louisiana, an unincorporated community and census-designated place in DeSoto Parish * Gloster, Mississippi, a town in Amite County * Gloster River, in the Marlborough region of New Zealand Other uses * Gloster Aircraft Company, British aircraft manufacturer 191763 ** :Gloster aircraft * Gloster Southern Railroad, in Mississippi and Louisiana * Gloster, an apple ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gloster Aircraft Company
The Gloster Aircraft Company was a British aircraft manufacturer from 1917 to 1963. Founded as the Gloucestershire Aircraft Company Limited during the First World War, with the aircraft construction activities of H H Martyn & Co Ltd of Cheltenham, England it produced fighters during the war. It was renamed later as foreigners found 'Gloucestershire' difficult to pronounce. It later became part of the Hawker Siddeley group and the Gloster name disappeared in 1963. Gloster designed and built several fighters that equipped the British Royal Air Force (RAF) during the interwar years including the Gladiator, the RAF's last biplane fighter. The company built most of the wartime production of Hawker Hurricanes and Hawker Typhoons for their parent company Hawker Siddeley while its design office was working on the first British jet aircraft, the E.28/39 experimental aircraft. This was followed by the Meteor, the RAF's first jet-powered fighter and the only Allied jet fighter to be put ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Javelin Arp 750pix
A javelin is a light spear designed primarily to be thrown, historically as a ranged weapon, but today predominantly for sport. The javelin is almost always thrown by hand, unlike the sling, bow, and crossbow, which launch projectiles with the aid of a hand-held mechanism. However, devices do exist to assist the javelin thrower in achieving greater distance, such as spear-throwers or the amentum. A warrior or soldier armed primarily with one or more javelins is a javelineer. The word javelin comes from Middle English and it derives from Old French ''javelin'', a diminutive of ''javelot'', which meant spear. The word ''javelot'' probably originated from one of the Celtic languages. Prehistory There is archaeological evidence that javelins and throwing sticks were already in use by the last phase of the Lower Paleolithic. Seven spear-like objects were found in a coal mine in the city of Schöningen, Germany. Stratigraphic dating indicates that the weapons are about 400,000 ye ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Edward Mortlock Donaldson
Air Commodore Edward "Teddy" Mortlock Donaldson, (12 February 1912 – 2 June 1992) was a Royal Air Force (RAF) flying ace of the Second World War, and a former holder of the airspeed world record. Early life Born in Negeri Sembilan, then part of British Malaya, his father C.E. Donaldson was a judge. One of four brothers, three of whom would serve as fighter pilots with the RAF and gain the Distinguished Service Order (DSO). Educated in England at the King's School, Rochester and Christ's Hospital, he then studied at McGill University in Canada. RAF career Donaldson joined two of his brothers in the RAF in 1931, granted a short service commission his first posting being to No. 3 Squadron flying Bristol Bulldogs. In 1932 he was runner up in the R.A.F. Wakefield Boxing Championship, which he won the following year. In 1933 the crack-shot won the RAF's Gunnery Trophy One, known as the '' Brooke-Popham Air Firing Trophy,'' and won it again in 1934. In 1935 he became a stunt pil ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gloster Meteor
The Gloster Meteor was the first British jet fighter and the Allies of World War II, Allies' only jet aircraft to engage in combat operations during the Second World War. The Meteor's development was heavily reliant on its ground-breaking turbojet engines, pioneered by Frank Whittle and his company, Power Jets, Power Jets Ltd. Development of the aircraft began in 1940, although work on the engines had been under way since 1936. The Meteor first flew in 1943 and commenced operations on 27 July 1944 with No. 616 Squadron RAF. The Meteor was not a sophisticated aircraft in its aerodynamics, but proved to be a successful combat fighter. Gloster's 1946 civil Meteor F.4 demonstrator ''G-AIDC'' was the first Aircraft registration, civilian-registered jet aircraft in the world. Several major variants of the Meteor incorporated technological advances during the 1940s and 1950s. Thousands of Meteors were built to fly with the RAF and other air forces and remained in use for several decade ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Flight Airspeed Record
An air speed record is the highest airspeed attained by an aircraft of a particular class. The rules for all official aviation records are defined by Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI), which also ratifies any claims. Speed records are divided into multiple classes with sub-divisions. There are three classes of aircraft: landplanes, seaplanes, and amphibians; then within these classes, there are records for aircraft in a number of weight categories. There are still further subdivisions for piston-engined, turbojet, turboprop, and rocket-engined aircraft. Within each of these groups, records are defined for speed over a straight course and for closed circuits of various sizes carrying various payloads. Timeline indicates unofficial records, including unconfirmed or unpublicized war secrets. Official records versus unofficial The Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird holds the official Air Speed Record for a manned airbreathing jet engine aircraft with a speed of . The reco ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
High Speed Flight RAF
The RAF High Speed Flight, sometimes known as '' 'The Flight' '', was a small flight of the Royal Air Force (RAF) formed for the purpose of competing in the Schneider Trophy contest for racing seaplanes during the 1920s. The flight was together only until the trophy was won outright, after which it was disbanded. Background In the Schneider Trophy race of 1926 both competing countries, Italy and the United States, had used military pilots. There had not been time to arrange a British team to compete. The British defeat of 1925 was held to be the result of technical inferiority and lack of organisation."Supermarine S.5: 1927 Schneider Trophy - Venice, Italy." ''Racing Campbells.'' Retrieved: 21 April 2012. The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Central Fighter Establishment
The Central Fighter Establishment was a Royal Air Force formation that dealt with the development of fighter aircraft tactics which was formed on 4 September 1944 at RAF Wittering. It also tested new fighter aircraft and equipment, and with the training of squadron and flight commanders. It was formed on 1 October 1944 as part of No. 12 Group RAF, and was disbanded on 1 February 1966 while at RAF Binbrook. Units * Air Fighting Development Squadron (1944-66) became Fighter Command Trials Unit * All-Weather Development Squadron (1956-59) * All-Weather Fighter Leaders School (1950-58) became All-Weather Fighter Combat School * All-Weather Wing (1950-56) became All-Weather Development Squadron * Day Fighter Development Wing (1944-??) * Day Fighter Leaders School (1944-58) became Day Fighter Combat Squadron * Enemy Aircraft Flight (1945) * Fighter Combat School (1958-??) ** Day Fighter Combat Squadron (1958-65) ** All-Weather Fighter Combat School (1958-62) became Javelin Operationa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
