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Sir Charles Richard Fairey
MBE Mbe may refer to: * Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo * Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria * Mbe language, a language of Nigeria * Mbe' language, language of Cameroon * ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language Molal ...
FRAeS The Royal Aeronautical Society, also known as the RAeS, is a British multi-disciplinary professional institution dedicated to the global aerospace community. Founded in 1866, it is the oldest aeronautical society in the world. Members, Fellows ...
(5 May 1887 – 30 September 1956), also known as Richard Fairey, was an English aircraft manufacturer.


Early life

Charles Fairey was born on 5 May 1887 in
Hendon Hendon is an urban area in the Borough of Barnet, North-West London northwest of Charing Cross. Hendon was an ancient manor and parish in the county of Middlesex and a former borough, the Municipal Borough of Hendon; it has been part of Great ...
,
Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, historic county in South East England, southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the Ceremonial counties of ...
and educated at the
Merchant Taylors' School, Northwood Small things grow in harmony , established = , closed = , coordinates = , pushpin_map = , type = Independent day school , religion = Church o ...
and Ardingly College, and later as an apprentice at the Finsbury Technical College where he studied
City & Guilds The City and Guilds of London Institute is an educational organisation in the United Kingdom. Founded on 11 November 1878 by the City of London and 16 livery companies – to develop a national system of technical education, the institute has ...
courses in electrical engineering and chemistry. Fairey's father had died when he was aged 11 and although from a middle-class background this dramatic change in the families circumstances led to Fairey taking a job, aged 15 with the Jandus Electric Company of London, who manufactured arc lamps. His progress was such that he was able to take charge of the installation of electric lights at
Heysham Heysham ( ) is a coastal town in Lancashire, England, overlooking Morecambe Bay. It is a Heysham Port, ferry port, with services to the Isle of Man and Ireland, and the site of two Heysham nuclear power station, nuclear power stations. Demogra ...
docks whilst still in his teens. His next job was as an analytical chemist, working on boiler-feed and fuel problems at
Municipal Borough of Finchley Finchley, which is now in north London, was a local government district in Middlesex, England, from 1878 to 1965. Finchley Local Board first met in 1878. It became Finchley District Council in 1895 and the Municipal Borough of Finchley in 1933. In ...
power station. Fairey became a skilled designer and builder of model aeroplanes and active member of the Kite and Model Aeroplane Association. On 4 June 1910 (aged 23) Fairey entered a model flying competition at
Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building ...
, London. His model monoplane design won 1st prize in the Longest Flight and Stability Competition with a distance of 153yds 1 ft 10in. His success in aeroplane modeling helped establish his reputation as a craftsman and innovator.


Career

In 1911 Fairey aged 24 became General manager with the Blair Atholl Syndicate Ltd., a company formed to develop the tailless aircraft designed by
J. W. Dunne John William Dunne (2 December 1875 – 24 August 1949) was a British soldier, aeronautical engineer and philosopher. As a young man he fought in the Second Boer War, before becoming a pioneering aeroplane designer in the early years of the 20th ...
, at
Eastchurch Eastchurch is a village and civil parish on the Isle of Sheppey, in the English county of Kent, two miles east of Minster. The village website claims the area has "a history steeped in stories of piracy and smugglers". Aviation history Eastchu ...
,
Isle of Sheppey The Isle of Sheppey is an island off the northern coast of Kent, England, neighbouring the Thames Estuary, centred from central London. It has an area of . The island forms part of the local government district of Swale. ''Sheppey'' is derived ...
. In 1913 Fairey joined
Short Brothers Short Brothers plc, usually referred to as Shorts or Short, is an aerospace company based in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Shorts was founded in 1908 in London, and was the first company in the world to make production aeroplanes. It was particu ...
as chief engineer and in 1915 he formed his own company,
Fairey Aviation The Fairey Aviation Company Limited was a British aircraft manufacturer of the first half of the 20th century based in Hayes in Middlesex and Heaton Chapel and RAF Ringway in Cheshire. Notable for the design of a number of important military a ...
. At the outbreak of the First World War he attempted to join first the
Royal Naval Air Service The Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) was the air arm of the Royal Navy, under the direction of the Admiralty's Air Department, and existed formally from 1 July 1914 to 1 April 1918, when it was merged with the British Army's Royal Flying Corps t ...
and then the
Royal Flying Corps "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colors = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = , decorations ...
, but was refused by both on medical grounds and by reason of his skill as an aeronautical engineer. A year later, at the age of 28, he formed his own aircraft company. It started with an office in
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, and factory space was found initially in
The Gramophone ''Gramophone'' is a magazine published monthly in London, devoted to classical music, particularly to reviews of recordings. It was founded in 1923 by the Scottish author Compton Mackenzie who continued to edit the magazine until 1961. It was a ...
company's facilities at Hayes. His standing in the United Kingdom aircraft industry led to him to be the chairman of the
Society of British Aircraft Constructors A society is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction, or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. Societi ...
in 1922–1924 and president of the
Royal Aeronautical Society The Royal Aeronautical Society, also known as the RAeS, is a British multi-disciplinary professional institution dedicated to the global aerospace community. Founded in 1866, it is the oldest aeronautical society in the world. Members, Fellows ...
in 1930–31 and 1932–33. His company developed a new factory at Hayes just across the
Great Western Railway The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament on 31 August 1835 and ran ...
. In 1930 a flying field was developed on land purchased from the church under the control of the
vicar A vicar (; Latin: ''vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English pref ...
of
Harmondsworth Harmondsworth is a village in the London Borough of Hillingdon in the county of Greater London with a short border to the south onto Heathrow Airport, London Heathrow Airport. The village has no railway stations, but adjoins the M4 motorway and t ...
,
Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, historic county in South East England, southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the Ceremonial counties of ...
. Known as the
Great West Aerodrome The Great West Aerodrome, also known as Harmondsworth Aerodrome or Heathrow Aerodrome, was a grass airfield, operational between 1930 and 1944. It was on the southeast edge of the hamlet of Heathrow, in the parish of Harmondsworth. The Fairey Av ...
, it was later compulsorily purchased by
the Crown The Crown is the state in all its aspects within the jurisprudence of the Commonwealth realms and their subdivisions (such as the Crown Dependencies, overseas territories, provinces, or states). Legally ill-defined, the term has different ...
during
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, and today forms the south-eastern part of
Heathrow Airport Heathrow Airport (), called ''London Airport'' until 1966 and now known as London Heathrow , is a major international airport in London, England. It is the largest of the six international airports in the London airport system (the others be ...
, London. Soon afterwards a seaplane base was established at
Hamble Hamble may refer to: * The River Hamble in Hampshire, England * Hamble aerodrome on the banks of the River Hamble. ** Hamble-Warsash Ferry, a ferry service on the River Hamble * Hamble-le-Rice, a village on the river Hamble, close to the city of Sou ...
.Sherwood, Philip (1999) He also gave his private yacht to the Royal Navy for the duration of the war. Armed and refitted, she served on anti-submarine duties as HMS ''Evadne''. During the forty years he led his business, Fairey was involved with the development of many of his companies' most important products, including aircraft, rotorcraft, marine craft, mechanical engineering and rocketry. He remained in charge of his company until his death in a London nursing home early on 30 September 1956, after suffering from a heart condition for several years.


Honours

*
MBE Mbe may refer to: * Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo * Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria * Mbe language, a language of Nigeria * Mbe' language, language of Cameroon * ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language Molal ...
in 1920. *President of the
Royal Aeronautical Society The Royal Aeronautical Society, also known as the RAeS, is a British multi-disciplinary professional institution dedicated to the global aerospace community. Founded in 1866, it is the oldest aeronautical society in the world. Members, Fellows ...
, twice, 1930–31 and 1932–33. *The Council of the Royal Aeronautical Society awarded on 21 April 1936, the Sir Charles Wakefield Gold Medal to Mr. C. R. Fairey, for his work on the development of aircraft flaps. *
Knighthood A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the Gr ...
CENTRAL CHANCERY OF THE ORDERS OF KNIGHTHOOD, St. James's Palace, S.W.I, 11 June 1942. The KING has been graciously pleased, on the occasion of the Celebration of His Majesty's Birthday, to signify his intention of conferring the Honour of Knighthood upon Charles Richard Fairey, Esq., M.B.E.,' F.R.Ae.S., Chairman, Fairey Aviation Company. Director-General, British Air Commission, Washington. *
Medal of Freedom The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the highest civilian award of the United States, along with the Congressional Gold Medal. It is an award bestowed by the president of the United States to recognize people who have made "an especially merit ...
with silver palm from the United States government. The Medal was presented to Sir Richard Fairey in 1948. The award was made at Kindley Field airbase, Bermuda, in recognition of Sir Richard's co-operation with the U.S. War Department, which contributed to the planning of U.S. aircraft research and development, while he was Director-General of the British Air Commission in Washington D.C. during the war. Col. Thomas D. Ferguson, the commanding officer of Kindley Field, made the presentation for the U.S. War Department.


References


Bibliography

*Sherwood, Philip. 1999. ''Heathrow: 2000 years of History'' *Sherwood, Tim. 1999. ''Coming in to Land: A Short History of Hounslow, Hanworth and Heston Aerodromes 1911–1946''
Heritage Publications (Hounslow Library)
* * *
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...
: Fairey, Charles Richard by J.L. Pritchard. {{DEFAULTSORT:Fairey, Charles Richard 1887 births 1956 deaths English aerospace engineers Fairey Aviation Company Fellows of the Royal Aeronautical Society Knights Bachelor Members of the Order of the British Empire People educated at Merchant Taylors' School, Northwood People educated at Ardingly College People from Hendon Recipients of the Medal of Freedom 20th-century English businesspeople