Hugh Merewether (20 May 1924 in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

– 13 September 2006) was a British

test pilot A test pilot is an aircraft pilot with additional training to fly and evaluate experimental, newly produced and modified aircraft with specific maneuvers, known as flight test techniques.Stinton, Darrol. ''Flying Qualities and Flight Testing ...

who pioneered the vertical and short take-off and landing (

V/STOL A vertical and/or short take-off and landing (V/STOL) aircraft is an airplane able to take-off or land vertically or on short runways. Vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft are a subset of V/STOL craft that do not require runways at al ...

) techniques that led to the development of the

Hawker Siddeley Harrier The Hawker Siddeley Harrier is a British military aircraft. It was the first of the Harrier series of aircraft and was developed in the 1960s as the first operational ground attack and reconnaissance aircraft with vertical/short takeoff and ...

. Merewether was also the inventor of the Ampair wind turbine generator which was initially used predominantly by cruising sailors. He also developed the Aquair towed turbine generator in which the same electrical generator was rotated by means of a towed turbine, again used by cruising sailors. These two generators allow long range cruisers to generate electricity for charging their battery banks from the free power of the winds and were manufactured by the 'Ampair' company in the UK.

External links

Obituary
– ''The Daily Telegraph''

– ''The Sydney Morning Herald''
Ampair
– ''Ampair'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Merewether 1924 births 2006 deaths British aviators British test pilots South African emigrants to the United Kingdom

See also

External links