Flying Officer Phillip Edward Gerald Sayer (5 February 1905 – 21 October 1942), was the chief test pilot for

Gloster Aircraft 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 Chelt ...

as well as a serving

RAF The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

officer. "Gerry" Sayer flew Britain's maiden jet flight in Sir

Frank Whittle Air Commodore Sir Frank Whittle, (1 June 1907 – 8 August 1996) was an English engineer, inventor and Royal Air Force (RAF) air officer. He is credited with inventing the turbojet engine. A patent was submitted by Maxime Guillaume in 1921 for ...

's Gloster E.28/39 (Pioneer), an aircraft designed by George Carter, on 15 May 1941.

Early life

He was born in

Colchester Colchester ( ) is a city in Essex, in the East of England. It had a population of 122,000 in 2011. The demonym is Colcestrian. Colchester occupies the site of Camulodunum, the first major city in Roman Britain and its first capital. Colches ...

, the only son of

Wing Commander Wing commander (Wg Cdr in the RAF, the IAF, and the PAF, WGCDR in the RNZAF and RAAF, formerly sometimes W/C in all services) is a senior commissioned rank in the British Royal Air Force and air forces of many countries which have historical ...

E. J. Sayer . He attended

St Joseph's College, Nainital St. Joseph's College, Nainital is a day boarding and residential school in Nainital, Kumaon, India, providing private school education. Overview St Joseph's college was established in 1888. The site was previously the location of a seminary, r ...

in India and

Colchester Royal Grammar School Colchester Royal Grammar School (CRGS) is a state-funded grammar school in Colchester, Essex. It was founded in 1128 and was later granted two royal charters - by Henry VIII in 1539 and by Elizabeth I in 1584.Trevor J. Hearn, ''Vitae Corona Fide ...

in England.

Career

Royal Air Force

Sayer joined the Royal Air Force on 30 June 1924, being granted a short service commission with the rank of probationary

pilot officer Pilot officer (Plt Off officially in the RAF; in the RAAF and RNZAF; formerly P/O in all services, and still often used in the RAF) is the lowest commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many other Commonwealth countri ...

, and was posted to

No. 29 Squadron RAF No. 29 Squadron of the Royal Air Force was first raised as a unit of the Royal Flying Corps in 1915, and is one of the world's oldest fighter squadrons. The second British squadron to receive the Eurofighter Typhoon, it is currently the Operat ...

, based at

RAF Duxford Duxford Aerodrome is located south of Cambridge, within the civil parish of Duxford, Cambridgeshire, England and nearly west of the village. The airfield is owned by the Imperial War Museum (IWM) and is the site of the Imperial War Muse ...

. He was confirmed in his rank on 23 May 1925, and was promoted to flying officer on 30 March 1926. He learnt to fly in an

Avro 504K The Avro 504 was a First World War biplane aircraft made by the Avro aircraft company and under licence by others. Production during the war totalled 8,970 and continued for almost 20 years, making it the most-produced aircraft of any kind tha ...

, and later flew

Sopwith Snipe The Sopwith 7F.1 Snipe was a British single-seat biplane fighter of the Royal Air Force (RAF). It was designed and built by the Sopwith Aviation Company during the First World War, and came into squadron service a few weeks before the end of th ...

s, before becoming a test pilot at

RAF Martlesham Heath Royal Air Force Martlesham Heath or more simply RAF Martlesham Heath is a former Royal Air Force station located southwest of Woodbridge, Suffolk, England. It was active between 1917 and 1963, and played an important role in the development of ...

, the home of 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 work ...

Test pilot

Sayer was transferred to the Reserve of Air Force Officers (Class A) on 2 March 1929, to become second test pilot with

Hawker Aircraft Hawker Aircraft Limited was a British aircraft manufacturer that was responsible for some of the most famous products in British aviation history. History Hawker had its roots in the aftermath of the First World War, which resulted in the bank ...

, assistant to

Group Captain Group captain is a senior commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force, where it originated, as well as the air forces of many countries that have historical British influence. It is sometimes used as the English translation of an equivalent rank i ...

P. W. S. (George) Bulman (who first flew the

Hurricane A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depend ...

on 6 November 1935). He also competed in the 1930

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, ...

, flying the

Cirrus Hermes The Cirrus and Hermes or Cirrus-Hermes are a series of British aero engines manufactured, under various changes of ownership, from the 1920s until the 1950s. The engines were all air-cooled, four-cylinder inline types, with earlier ones upright an ...

-powered

Desoutter Mk.I Desoutter is a British monoplane liaison aircraft manufactured by Desoutter Aircraft Company at Croydon Aerodrome, Surrey. Design and production In the late 1920s, Marcel Desoutter, a well known pilot, formed the Desoutter Aircraft Company Lt ...

''(G-AAPY)'' entered by Charles Bernard Wilson. He averaged over the course and came in 23rd place. In 1934 Hawker took over the

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 Chelte ...

and Sayer was appointed chief test pilot in November 1934. On 2 March 1937 Sayer relinquished his reserve commission on completion of service, and was permitted to retain his rank. On 15 May 1941 at 7.45pm, he took off from

RAF Cranwell Royal Air Force Cranwell or more simply RAF Cranwell is a Royal Air Force station in Lincolnshire, England, close to the village of Cranwell, near Sleaford. Among other functions, it is home to the Royal Air Force College (RAFC), which trai ...

, near

Sleaford Sleaford is a market town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in the North Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England. Centred on the former parish of New Sleaford, the modern boundaries and urban area include Quarrington, Lincolnshire, ...

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-west, Leicestershire ...

in the Gloster E.28/39 (W4041/G) powered by the W.1 engine and flew for 17 minutes, flying at over , impossible for other aircraft at the time in level flight. That Gloster aircraft has been in the

Science Museum A science museum is a museum devoted primarily to science. Older science museums tended to concentrate on static displays of objects related to natural history, paleontology, geology, industry and industrial machinery, etc. Modern trends in mu ...

since 1946. A second aircraft of the same type (W4046/G) would be later demonstrated to

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 Winston Churchill in the Second World War, dur ...

on 17 April 1943, having first flown on 1 March 1943 and later crashed in June 1943. On 21 October 1942 Sayer departed from

RAF Acklington Royal Air Force Acklington, simply known as RAF Acklington, is a former Royal Flying Corps and Royal Air Force station located south west of Amble, Northumberland and north east of Morpeth, Northumberland. The airfield was operational initia ...

in a

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 i ...

to carry out tests of a gunsight involving gun firing into

Druridge Bay Druridge Bay is a long bay on the North Sea in Northumberland, England, stretching from Amble in the north to Cresswell in the south. Druridge Bay Country Park is situated on the bay, and part of the bay (the section near the farmstead of Dru ...

Ranges, accompanied by another Typhoon. Neither aircraft returned, and it was assumed that they collided over the bay. He was replaced as Gloster's test pilot by

Michael Daunt Neill Michael Daunt OBE (23 October 1909 – 26 July 1991) was a British test pilot; the first person to fly the Gloster Meteor in March 1943, Britain's first production jet aircraft. He was the second person to fly the Gloster E.28/39 "Pioneer" ( ...

, who would be the first to fly the

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 turb ...

(powered by two

de Havilland Goblin The de Havilland Goblin, originally designated as the Halford H-1, is an early turbojet engine designed by Frank Halford and built by de Havilland. The Goblin was the second British jet engine to fly, after Whittle's Power Jets W.1, and the f ...

engines designed by

Frank Halford Major Frank Bernard Halford CBE FRAeS (7 March 1894 – 16 April 1955) was an English aircraft engine designer. He is best known for the series of de Havilland Gipsy engines, widely used by light aircraft in the 1920s and 30s. Career Educat ...

) on 5 March 1943 at

Personal life

Sayer was made an officer of the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

in the 1942 New Years Honours List. In January 1929, he became engaged to May Violet Ellen Wallace-Smyth daughter of the vicar of Bures, north

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

. They were married on 7 June 1930 at Holy Innocents Church,

Lamarsh Lamarsh is a village and a civil parish in the Braintree District, in the county of Essex, England. It is near the large village of Bures, England, Bures and the village of Alphamstone. The village is west of the River Stour. It has a pub, a ...

in north Essex.

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sayer, Gerry 1905 births 1942 deaths Aviators killed in aviation accidents or incidents in England English test pilots Officers of the Order of the British Empire People educated at Colchester Royal Grammar School People from Colchester Royal Air Force officers Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1942 Military personnel from Colchester