David Hollis Williams FRAeS (18 February 1900 – 2 April 1974) was a British aircraft designer in the early 1930s for the

Fairey Aviation Company 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 ...

, later working for

Westland Aircraft Westland Aircraft was a British aircraft manufacturer located in Yeovil, Somerset. Formed as a separate company by separation from Petters Limited just before the start of the Second World War, Westland had been building aircraft since 1915. Du ...

Early life

He was born in

Islington Islington () is a district in the north of Greater London, England, and part of the London Borough of Islington. It is a mainly residential district of Inner London, extending from Islington's High Street to Highbury Fields, encompassing the ar ...

Career

Royal Air Force

He became a

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 ...

in the

Royal Air Force 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 ...

in November 1923; he flew with the RAF from 1923. He had previously flown as a pilot from 1917 to 1919.

Hawker

In the mid-1920s he worked for

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 ...

in north-east

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

Fairey

He became chief designer of Fairey in 1930, succeeding Panida Antoni Ralli. In March 1933, he was awarded the Silver Medal 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 ...

, for work on long range aircraft, when he was assistant chief designer; Sir

Roy Fedden Sir Alfred Hubert Roy Fedden MBE, FRAeS (6 June 1885 – 21 November 1973) was an engineer who designed most of Bristol Engine Company's successful piston aircraft engine designs. Early life Fedden was born in the Bristol area to fairly wealthy ...

received the same honour. In 1938 he became a Fellow of the

. At Fairey he was largely responsible for the Fairey Long-range Monoplane. He rejoined Fairey in 1943 as chief engineer.

General Aircraft

He worked for

General Aircraft Limited General Aircraft Limited was a British aircraft manufacturer from its formation in 1931 to amalgamation with Blackburn Aircraft in 1949 to become Blackburn and General. Its main products were military gliders and light transport aircraft. His ...

for nine years as chief engineer from 1934 to 1943, working with Frederick Crocombe, the company's chief designer. Together they designed the ST18 Monospar named 'Croydon' which undertook a record attempt from England to Australia, piloted by Harold 'Tim' Wood. The aircraft suffered a damaged the tail wheel in Karachi enroute and after time spent repairing the wheel they made it to Australia but without breaking the flight time. While there they won the Victoria Air Race. On the return flight the aircraft became lost due to compass problems and bad directional bearings from Darwin and had to make an emergency landing on the Serringapatam reef in the East Timor sea. All 4 crew survived after being picked up by a local fishing boat and returned to England, however the aircraft was submerged by the incoming tide and lost. There are still some remains of the aeroplane on the reef to this day.

Westland Aircraft

He joined Westland Aircraft in August 1951 as chief engineer, being appointed technical director in 1952. In 1960 he became assistant managing director of Westland. He retired from Westland Aircraft in 1962. At Westland he led the team that developed the

Westland Whirlwind (helicopter) The Westland Whirlwind helicopter was a British licence-built version of the U.S. Sikorsky S-55/H-19 Chickasaw. It primarily served with the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm in anti-submarine and search and rescue roles. Design and development ...

, which first flew in August 1953. Westland had already built the

Sikorsky H-5 The Sikorsky H-5 (initially designated R-5 and also known as S-48, S-51 and by company designation VS-327Fitzsimons, Bernard, (general editor). ''Illustrated Encyclopedia of 20th Century Weapons and Warfare'' (London: Phoebus, 1978), Volume 20, ...

as the

Westland WS-51 Dragonfly The Westland WS-51 Dragonfly helicopter was built by Westland Aircraft and was an Anglicised licence-built version of the American Sikorsky S-51. Design and development On 19 January 1947 an agreement was signed between Westland Aircraft an ...

in 1948. Percival Shunker had been appointed as chief designer of Westland in 1955.

Personal life

In the 1920s and 1930s, he lived on the B467 in

Ickenham Ickenham is an area in Greater London, forming the eastern part of Uxbridge and within the London Borough of Hillingdon. While no major historical events have taken place in Ickenham, settlements dating back to the Roman occupation of Britain ...

. He married in 1930. His daughter was born in 1931, and lived on

Jersey Jersey ( , ; nrf, Jèrri, label=Jèrriais ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey (french: Bailliage de Jersey, links=no; Jèrriais: ), is an island country and self-governing Crown Dependencies, Crown Dependency near the coast of north-west F ...

. His grandson was born in 1954. His funeral took place in

on 12 April 1974 at 12pm. He had died in Dakar Hospital in

Senegal Senegal,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: 𞤅𞤫𞤲𞤫𞤺𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭 (Senegaali); Arabic: السنغال ''As-Sinighal'') officially the Republic of Senegal,; Wolof: ''Réewum Senegaal''; Pulaar : 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 � ...

aged 74.''The Times'', Saturday 6 April, page 26

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Hollis 1900 births 1974 deaths English aerospace engineers Fairey Aviation Company Fellows of the Royal Aeronautical Society Jersey businesspeople People from Islington (district) Royal Aeronautical Society Silver Medal winners Royal Air Force officers Westland Helicopters 20th-century British engineers