Bill Humble
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Bill Humble
William Humble MBE (14 April 1911 – 1 March 1992) was a well-known pre-Second World War aviator, known as an air racer and for his aerobatic displays. He was also an officer in the Royal Air Force Special Reserve, and the Auxiliary Air Force. Although he qualified as a mining engineer the lure of flying proved too strong, and he did not enter the family mining company. During the war he became an important test pilot for aircraft manufacturer Hawker Siddeley. Having tested some of the early jet aircraft, he retired from test flying in 1948, becoming a sales executive for Hawker. He is the grandfather of British television presenter Kate Humble. Early life Humble was born on 14 April 1911, the son of William Humble senior, a mining engineer and mine owner in the South Yorkshire coalfield, and also associated with the Staveley Coal and Iron Company. Humble was educated at Repton School and the University of Cambridge, following his father in qualifying as a mining engineer in ...
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Hawker Tempest
The Hawker Tempest is a British fighter aircraft that was primarily used by the Royal Air Force (RAF) in the Second World War. The Tempest, originally known as the ''Typhoon II'', was an improved derivative of the Hawker Typhoon, intended to address the Typhoon's unexpected deterioration in performance at high altitude by replacing its wing with a thinner laminar flow design. Since it had diverged considerably from the Typhoon, it was renamed ''Tempest''. The Tempest emerged as one of the most powerful fighters of World War II and at low altitude was the fastest single-engine propeller-driven aircraft of the war. Upon entering service in 1944, the Tempest performed low-level interception, particularly against the V-1 flying bomb threat, and ground attack supporting major invasions like Operation Market Garden. Later, it successfully targeted the rail infrastructure in Germany and ''Luftwaffe'' aircraft on the ground, as well as countering similar attacks by German fighters. T ...
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Repton School
Repton School is a 13–18 Mixed-sex education, co-educational, Independent school (United Kingdom), independent, Day school, day and boarding school in the English Public school (United Kingdom), public school tradition, in Repton, Derbyshire, England. John Port (died 1557), Sir John Port of Etwall, on his death in 1557, left funds to create a grammar school which was then established at the Repton Priory. For its first 400 years, the school accepted Single-sex education, only boys; girls were admitted from the 1970s, and the school was fully co-educational by the 1990s. Notable alumni, also known as "Old Reptonians", include C. B. Fry, Jeremy Clarkson, Roald Dahl, and Michael Ramsey. History The school was founded by a 1557 legacy in the will of Sir John Port (died 1557), John Port of Etwall, leaving funds for a grammar school at Etwall or Repton, conditional on the students praying daily for the souls of his family. The social mix of the early school was very broad. Amo ...
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Hawker Typhoon
The Hawker Typhoon is a British single-seat fighter-bomber, produced by Hawker Aircraft. It was intended to be a medium-high altitude interceptor, as a replacement for the Hawker Hurricane, but several design problems were encountered and it never completely satisfied this requirement.Thomas and Shores 1988, p. 16. The Typhoon was originally designed to mount twelve .303 inch (7.7 mm) Browning machine guns and be powered by the latest engines. Its service introduction in mid-1941 was plagued with problems and for several months the aircraft faced a doubtful future. When the ''Luftwaffe'' brought the new Focke-Wulf Fw 190 into service in 1941, the Typhoon was the only RAF fighter capable of catching it at low altitudes; as a result it secured a new role as a low-altitude interceptor. The Typhoon became established in roles such as night-time intruder and long-range fighter. From late 1942 the Typhoon was equipped with bombs and from late 1943 RP-3 rockets were added to i ...
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Hawker Hurricane
The Hawker Hurricane is a British single-seat fighter aircraft of the 1930s–40s which was designed and predominantly built by Hawker Aircraft Ltd. for service with the Royal Air Force (RAF). It was overshadowed in the public consciousness by the Supermarine Spitfire during the Battle of Britain in 1940, but the Hurricane inflicted 60 percent of the losses sustained by the Luftwaffe in the campaign, and fought in all the major theatres of the Second World War. The Hurricane originated from discussions between RAF officials and aircraft designer Sir Sydney Camm about a proposed monoplane derivative of the Hawker Fury biplane in the early 1930s. Despite an institutional preference for biplanes and lack of interest by the Air Ministry, Hawker refined their monoplane proposal, incorporating several innovations which became critical to wartime fighter aircraft, including retractable landing gear and the more powerful Rolls-Royce Merlin engine. The Air Ministry ordered Hawker's ''Int ...
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Philip Lucas
Philip Lucas GM (1902–1981) was an English aviator and test pilot who was awarded the George Medal for his courage and skill landing a damaged Hawker Typhoon prototype. Philip Gadesden Lucas was born on 3 September 1902 at Bexleyheath, Kent and was educated at Epsom College before starting an apprenticeship with Vickers. He joined the Royal Air Force in 1926 and by 1931 had joined Hawker Aircraft as a test pilot. In 1939 he became Hawker's Chief Experimental Test Pilot operating from Brooklands in Surrey and Langley in Buckinghamshire. He flew the Hawker Hurricane, Hawker Typhoon and Hawker Tempest straight from the production line and for development flying. In 1941 Lucas was flying a Hawker Typhoon prototype that he managed to land safely after it suffered a structural failure during flight. For his courage and skill he was awarded the George Medal: Lucas retired from test flying in 1946 and became general manager of Hawker Aircraft, which by the time he retired in 1967 had ...
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George Bulman (pilot)
Group Captain Paul Ward Spencer Bulman, (8 April 1896 – 6 May 1963), universally known as George Bulman, was a pilot whose flying life spanned thirty years (1915–1945). Early years Bulman was born in Luton in 1896, the son of the Reverend Canon Thomas Bulman, a Church of England clergyman, and his wife Eveline. He was educated at Bedford School and then joined the Bank of England. First World War He transferred from the Honourable Artillery Company to the Royal Flying Corps (later Royal Air Force) early in the First World War, serving in No. 46 Squadron RFC and No. 3 Squadron RFC. He was awarded the Military Cross on 4 February 1918 for his services flying Sopwith Camels at the Battle of Courtrai, with the following citation: For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty. On five occasions; in most difficult weather conditions, he dropped bombs and fired on enemy infantry from a low altitude, inflicting heavy casualties. During these flights he frequently obtained valu ...
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Hawker Tempest I HM599
Hawker or Hawkers may refer to: Places *Hawker, Australian Capital Territory, a suburb of Canberra *Hawker, South Australia, a town *Division of Hawker, an Electoral Division in South Australia *Hawker Island, Princess Elizabeth Land, Antarctica *Hawker Creek, Missouri, United States In business * Hawker (trade), a vendor of food or merchandise * Hawker Aircraft, a British aircraft manufacturer * Hawkers (company), a Spanish sunglasses company Other uses * Hawker (surname) * One who practices falconry, hunting with hawks * Hawker College Hawker College is a senior secondary college in the Australian Capital Territory. It caters to students completing their final two years of secondary education, and offers a wide range of curriculum choices. Established in 1976, Hawker has a non ..., a senior secondary college in the Australian Capital Territory * Hawker (dragonfly), a family of dragonflies in North America and Europe {{DEFAULTSORT:Hawker ...
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Miles Hawk
The Miles M.2 Hawk was a twin-seat light monoplane designed and produced by the British aircraft manufacturer Miles Aircraft Limited during the 1930s. It is the first of the company's aircraft to attain quantity production. The Hawk's development started in 1932 following a conversation between designer F.G. Miles and Charles Powys, the latter offering Miles hangar space at Woodley Aerodrome to build his proposed affordable twin-seat monoplane. The aircraft was designed by Miles and his wife, while construction of the prototype was mostly performed by the carpenter Harry Hull. On 29 March 1933, the prototype performed its maiden flight. The aircraft quickly proving its performance to be roughly 50 percent greater than biplane contemporaries. Within 15 months, 47 Hawks had been sold to various domestic customers. An advanced derivative, the Miles Hawk Major, was also quickly developed, alongside several specialised versions of the original aircraft. Amongst other uses, the Ha ...
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King's Cup Air Race
The King's Cup air race Air racing is a type of motorsport that involves airplanes or other types of aircraft that compete over a fixed course, with the winner either returning the shortest time, the one to complete it with the most points, or to come closest to a prev ... is a British Handicapping, handicapped cross-country event, which has taken place annually since 1922. It is run by the Royal Aero Club Records Racing and Rally Association. The King's Cup is one of the most prestigious prizes of the British air racing season. The entrants are divided into classes, and each is evaluated and given a time handicap for the start of the race. They all take off at varying times according to their handicap, with the handicappers' aim being that they should all cross the finishing line at the same moment. The art of winning the race outright is therefore to beat the handicappers, rather than to make the fastest flight as such.Alex Henshaw, ''The Flight of the Mew Gull'', Murray, 1 ...
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The Daily Telegraph
''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was founded by Arthur B. Sleigh in 1855 as ''The Daily Telegraph & Courier''. Considered a newspaper of record over ''The Times'' in the UK in the years up to 1997, ''The Telegraph'' generally has a reputation for high-quality journalism, and has been described as being "one of the world's great titles". The paper's motto, "Was, is, and will be", appears in the editorial pages and has featured in every edition of the newspaper since 19 April 1858. The paper had a circulation of 363,183 in December 2018, descending further until it withdrew from newspaper circulation audits in 2019, having declined almost 80%, from 1.4 million in 1980.United Newspapers PLC and Fleet Holdings PLC', Monopolies and Mergers Commission (1985), pp. 5–16. Its si ...
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Arthur Marshall (engineer)
Sir Arthur Gregory George Marshall, OBE, (4 December 1903 – 16 March 2007) was a British aviation pioneer and businessman, who served as the chairman of Marshall Aerospace between 1942 and 1989. Early life and education Arthur Marshall was born in Cambridge, England and was educated at The Perse School in Cambridge and at Tonbridge School in Kent, completing his education at Jesus College, Cambridge, where he earned a first-class degree in engineering.Reginald TurnillObituary: Sir Arthur Marshall ''The Guardian'', 26 March 2007. Retrieved 14 January 2023. He learned to fly in 1928, and shortly thereafter created an airstrip near his family's Cambridge home, which by 1929 had turned into a full-fledged airfield. Six years later, Marshall and his father, David, bought the land where the present Cambridge Airport now stands and started Marshall Aerospace. During World War II, Marshall's played a key role in training over 20,000 pilots and flying instructors. Under Sir Ar ...
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