Claude Percival Thomas Lipscomb (1887- 11 April 1974) FRAeS was a British engineer and aircraft designer, who designed the
RAF Bomber Command's first four-engined
heavy bomber
Heavy bombers are bomber aircraft capable of delivering the largest payload of air-to-ground weaponry (usually bombs) and longest range (takeoff to landing) of their era. Archetypal heavy bombers have therefore usually been among the larges ...
, the
Short Stirling (S.29).
Early life
C.P.T. Lipscomb was born on
Portsea Island
Portsea Island is a flat and low-lying natural island in area, just off the southern coast of Hampshire in England. Portsea Island contains the majority of the city of Portsmouth.
Portsea Island has the third-largest population of all th ...
.
Career
Shorts
He joined Short Brothers in 1914 in Kent, then he later designed airships at Bedford from 1916 to 1921. By the late 1930s he was assistant chief designer. He became chief designer in 1943.
Short Stirling
The Short Stirling, which he designed with Arthur Gouge, first flew, as ''L7600'', on 14 May 1939 with
John Lankester Parker
John Lankester Parker OBE FRAeS Hon. MSLAE (1896 – 22 August 1965) was Chief Test Pilot for Short Brothers from 1918 until his retirement in 1945. He joined Shorts in 1916 as a part-time test pilot and assistant to then Chief Test Pilot Ronald ...
, the Short Chief Test Pilot. The aircraft was designed in response to the Air Ministry Directive B.12/36. It had
Bristol Hercules I radial engines. The second prototype, ''L7605'', flew on 3 December 1939. The Stirling Mk 1 entered service in August 1940, with 756 being made. 1,047 were made of the Stirling Mk II, which entered service in 1942.
He later designed a possible transatlantic four-engine airliner, the Short 14/38.
Short 14/38
/ref>
Personal life
He lived in Kent. He married Nora Guest. He had one son. He moved to Northern Ireland and lived at 28 Shandon Park East in County Down. He died in April 1974 in Northern Ireland aged 86. His wife died on 4 May 1978, aged 90.
See also
* :World War II British bombers
* Stuart Davies (engineer), co-designer of the Avro Lancaster, which first flew on 9 January 1941
* Sir Arthur Gouge
Sir Arthur Gouge (3 July 1890 – 14 October 1962) was a British engineer and aircraft designer from Kent, who worked notably for Short Brothers where he designed the "C-class" Empire and Sunderland flying boats.
Early life
He was born in North ...
, designer of the Short Sunderland
The Short S.25 Sunderland is a British flying boat patrol bomber, developed and constructed by Short Brothers for the Royal Air Force (RAF). The aircraft took its service name from the town (latterly, city) and port of Sunderland in North Ea ...
, important in the Battle of the Atlantic
* George Volkert
George Rudolph Volkert CBE FRAeS (4 July 1891 – 16 May 1978) was a British aircraft designer.
Early life
He was born in Fulham. He studied at the Northampton Institute in London (now City University London).
Career
Handley Page
He jo ...
, designer of the Handley Page Halifax
The Handley Page Halifax is a British Royal Air Force (RAF) four-engined heavy bomber of the Second World War. It was developed by Handley Page to the same specification as the contemporary twin-engine Avro Manchester.
The Halifax has its orig ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lipscomb, Claude
1887 births
1974 deaths
Fellows of the Royal Aeronautical Society
People from County Down
People from Portsea, Portsmouth