Air Commodore Francis Rodwell "Rod" Banks CB, OBE, Hon. CGIA., Hon.

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 ...

, Hon. FAIAA., FlMechE., Flnst Pet., FRSA, CEng., MSAE, (22 March 1898 – 12 May 1985) was a British

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...

who was involved in the development of the

internal combustion engine An internal combustion engine (ICE or IC engine) is a heat engine in which the combustion of a fuel occurs with an oxidizer (usually air) in a combustion chamber that is an integral part of the working fluid flow circuit. In an internal combus ...

, as well as special

fuels A fuel is any material that can be made to react with other substances so that it releases energy as thermal energy or to be used for work. The concept was originally applied solely to those materials capable of releasing chemical energy but ...

for the engine, and was one of the people responsible for the development of higher-

octane Octane is a hydrocarbon and an alkane with the chemical formula , and the condensed structural formula . Octane has many structural isomers that differ by the amount and location of branching in the carbon chain. One of these isomers, 2,2,4-Tri ...

fuels.

Early life

Francis Rodwell Banks was born on 22 March 1898, son of Bernard Rodwell and Frances Emily Banks. He married Christine Constance Grant Langlands in 1925, the couple having two daughters. Banks entered the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

at the age of sixteen in 1914. After promotion, he commanded several coastal motor boats, his navy service ending in 1919 while on service in the

Caspian Sea The Caspian Sea is the world's largest inland body of water, often described as the world's largest lake or a full-fledged sea. An endorheic basin, it lies between Europe and Asia; east of the Caucasus, west of the broad steppe of Central Asia ...

during the

Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution that took place in the former Russian Empire which began during the First World War. This period saw Russia abolish its monarchy and ad ...

Interwar years

Between the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and the subsequent world conflict, Banks was involved in the development of marine

diesel engine The diesel engine, named after Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which ignition of the fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to mechanical compression; thus, the diesel engine is a so-call ...

s, later leading to involvement as a consultant on the problems of various car, airship, and aircraft piston engines. In 1925 he became chief experimental engineer at Peter Hooker Limited, working to develop the 1500HP 178 litre ELS 'Stromboli' airship engine. Before long, having recognised the inadequacy of existing fuels, Banks began working on development of improved fuels. His work concentrated on increasing the

octane rating An octane rating, or octane number, is a standard measure of a fuel's ability to withstand compression in an internal combustion engine without detonating. The higher the octane number, the more compression the fuel can withstand before detonating ...

, which allowed the use of higher

compression ratio The compression ratio is the ratio between the volume of the cylinder and combustion chamber in an internal combustion engine at their maximum and minimum values. A fundamental specification for such engines, it is measured two ways: the stati ...

s, in particular the fuel additive

tetraethyllead Tetraethyllead (commonly styled tetraethyl lead), abbreviated TEL, is an organolead compound with the formula Pb( C2H5)4. It is a fuel additive, first being mixed with gasoline beginning in the 1920s as a patented octane rating booster that al ...

. In 1928, he joined the

Anglo-American Oil Company Esso () is a trading name for ExxonMobil. Originally, the name was primarily used by its predecessor Standard Oil of New Jersey after the breakup of the original Standard Oil company in 1911. The company adopted the name "Esso" (the phonetic ...

and by 1930, had joined Ethyl Gasoline Corporation (export division), which, in 1931, became the Ethyl Export Corporation. This work embraced the principal aero engine and automobile manufacturers in the U.K. and Europe, including the military air forces and commercial airlines. In addition the work covered motor racing fuels. His status was such that he was invited to develop the fuels used in the UK's

Schneider Trophy The Coupe d'Aviation Maritime Jacques Schneider, also known as the Schneider Trophy, Schneider Prize or (incorrectly) the Schneider Cup is a trophy that was awarded annually (and later, biennially) to the winner of a race for seaplanes and flying ...

entrants, his fuel blends contributing to the success of the British entries in 1929 and 1931. At this time, he was also involved in developing the fuels used by

Henry Segrave Sir Henry O'Neal de Hane Segrave (22 September 1896 – 13 June 1930) was an early British pioneer in land speed and water speed records. Segrave, who set three land and one water record, was the first person to hold both titles simultaneous ...

and John Cobb in their

land Land, also known as dry land, ground, or earth, is the solid terrestrial surface of the planet Earth that is not submerged by the ocean or other bodies of water. It makes up 29% of Earth's surface and includes the continents and various islan ...

and water speed record attempts. He was also instrumental in solving the problems with the

Fiat AS.6 The Fiat AS.6 was an unusual Italian 24-cylinder, liquid-cooled V configured aircraft racing engine designed and built in the late-1920s by Fiat especially for the Schneider Trophy air races, but development and running problems meant that it ...

engine, enabling the world records set by the

Macchi M.C.72 The Macchi M.C. 72 is an experimental seaplane designed and built by the Italian aircraft company Macchi Aeronautica. The M.C. 72 held the world speed record for all aircraft for five years. In 1933 and 1934 it set world speed records for pisto ...

. In 1934 Banks presented a paper on ethyl to the Royal Aeronautical Society, for which he received the Taylor Gold Medal.

World War II

With the coming of war, Banks entered the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve as a junior officer, being sent to work at the

Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment The Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment (A&AEE) was a research facility for British military aviation from 1918 to 1992. Established at Martlesham Heath, Suffolk, the unit moved in 1939 to Boscombe Down, Wiltshire, where its wo ...

(A&AEE) at

Boscombe Down MoD Boscombe Down ' is the home of a military aircraft testing site, on the southeastern outskirts of the town of Amesbury, Wiltshire, England. The site is managed by QinetiQ, the private defence company created as part of the breakup of the Def ...

. His previous work having attracted the attention of Lord Beaverbrook, Banks was accredited as a "troubleshooter" and given special powers. Banks was later promoted to air commodore and was made successively, director general of engine production (DGofEP), and director of engine research and development (DofER&D), with the objective to plan the post-war future of the aero gas turbine for both military use and commercial applications.

Post war

In 1946 Banks rejoined the Ethyl Corporation (Associated Ethyl, at the time), also taking a number of directorships: loaned back as principal director of engine research and development at the

Ministry of Supply The Ministry of Supply (MoS) was a department of the UK government formed in 1939 to co-ordinate the supply of equipment to all three British armed forces, headed by the Minister of Supply. A separate ministry, however, was responsible for aircr ...

in 1952, also in 1955 as a director of the Bristol Aeroplane Company, and after the merging of Bristol Aero Engines with

Armstrong Siddeley Armstrong Siddeley was a British engineering group that operated during the first half of the 20th century. It was formed in 1919 and is best known for the production of luxury vehicles and aircraft engines. The company was created following t ...

, their overall director of sales in 1959. With the later mergers within the British aircraft industry, Banks became involved with the

Hawker Siddeley Hawker Siddeley was a group of British manufacturing companies engaged in aircraft production. Hawker Siddeley combined the legacies of several British aircraft manufacturers, emerging through a series of mergers and acquisitions as one of onl ...

company, in 1963 becoming assistant managing director and chief executive (civil aircraft) at Hatfield, the former home of the

de Havilland The de Havilland Aircraft Company Limited () was a British aviation manufacturer established in late 1920 by Geoffrey de Havilland at Stag Lane Aerodrome Edgware on the outskirts of north London. Operations were later moved to Hatfield in H ...

Company. By 1969 he had become the 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 ...

Retirement

Banks retired at the age of 70, taking posts as consultants with a number of American

aviation Aviation includes the activities surrounding mechanical flight and the aircraft industry. ''Aircraft'' includes fixed-wing and rotary-wing types, morphable wings, wing-less lifting bodies, as well as lighter-than-air craft such as hot air ...

firms, with which he was still active at the age of 80. He died in 1985, at the age of 87.

Honours

* Commander of Legion of Honour (France) *

Commander of the Legion of Merit The Legion of Merit (LOM) is a military award of the United States Armed Forces that is given for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievements. The decoration is issued to members of the eight ...

(USA) * Military Order of St. Stanislaus (Imperial Russia),

Publications

*
''Fuels and Engines''
– a 1939 ''

Flight Flight or flying is the process by which an object moves through a space without contacting any planetary surface, either within an atmosphere (i.e. air flight or aviation) or through the vacuum of outer space (i.e. spaceflight). This can be a ...

'' article by F. R. Banks
''Six of the Best''
a 1969 ''Flight'' article by F. R. Banks

References

External links

The Papers of Air Commodore Francis Banks
held at

Churchill Archives Centre The Churchill Archives Centre (CAC) at Churchill College at the University of Cambridge is one of the largest repositories in the United Kingdom for the preservation and study of modern personal papers. It is best known for housing the papers of ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Banks, Francis Rodwell British automotive engineers 1898 births 1985 deaths Royal Navy officers Fellows of the Royal Aeronautical Society 20th-century British engineers Royal Navy officers of World War I Royal Navy personnel of the Russian Civil War Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve personnel of World War II Royal Air Force officers