Norman Channing Spratt (1885–1944) a native of Durban, Colony of Natal, was an officer of the

Royal Flying Corps "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colors = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = , decorations ...

during the First World War who was involved in aircraft testing at the

Royal Aircraft Establishment The Royal Aircraft Establishment (RAE) was a British research establishment, known by several different names during its history, that eventually came under the aegis of the Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom), UK Ministry of Defence (MoD), bef ...

Farnborough Farnborough may refer to: Australia * Farnborough, Queensland, a locality in the Shire of Livingstone United Kingdom * Farnborough, Hampshire, a town in the Rushmoor district of Hampshire, England ** Farnborough (Main) railway station, a railw ...

, United Kingdom. He later served as a group captain in the Royal Air Force. He was awarded the Order of the British Empire in 1925. On 7 December 1913, Spratt, as factory test pilot, crashed Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.2a, ''235'', at the

Aerodrome, pilot surviving.Cooper, Peter J., "Picking up the Pieces", ''Air International'', Stamford, Lincs., UK, November 1998, Volume 55, Number 5, page 280. In 1914, Spratt set a new airspeed record in a

Royal Aircraft Factory S.E.4 The Royal Aircraft Factory S.E.4 was a single-engined, single seat biplane designed and built at the Royal Aircraft Factory just prior to the start of the First World War. Intended to be as fast as possible, it recorded a speed of 135 mph ...

, at 134.5 mph, bringing the speed title to the U.K. for the first time. On 14 May 1914, Norman Spratt set a British altitude record of 18,900 ft. while flying one of two

Royal Aircraft Factory R.E.5 The Royal Aircraft Factory R.E.5 was a British two-seat reconnaissance and artillery observation biplane designed and built by the Royal Aircraft Factory for the Royal Flying Corps. Development The R.E.5 was designed as a reconnaissance biplan ...

reconnaissance designs, the fifth and sixth machines, which were produced as single-seat 'height machines', with long strut-braced extensions on the upper wing, which gave it a span of 57 ft 2.39in. On 12 August 1914, the sole Royal Aircraft Factory S.E.4, ''

628 __NOTOC__ Year 628 ( DCXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. The denomination 628 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era ...

'', crashlanded at 1145 hrs. while being flown by Lt. Spratt when one of the wheels collapsed, airframe overturning, sustaining such extensive damage that it was abandoned.Bruce, J.M., "War Planes of the First World War, Fighters, Volume Two", Doubleday & Company Inc., Garden City, New York, 1968, Library of Congress card number 65-25323, page 72. The first dogfight is believed to have taken place on 28 August 1914, when Spratt, flying a Sopwith Tabloid, forced down a German

Albatros C.I The Albatros C.I, (post-war company designations L.6 & L.7), was the first of the successful C-series of two-seat general-purpose biplanes built by Albatros Flugzeugwerke during World War I. Based on the unarmed Albatros B.II, the C.I reversed ...

two-seater. This was an amazing achievement as his Sopwith was not armed. The prototype

Armstrong Whitworth F.K.3 The Armstrong Whitworth F.K.3 was a British two-seat general-purpose biplane built by Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft during the First World War. By the end of the war it was considered obsolete for combat. History The Dutch aircraft designer ...

was first test flown by Spratt in 1915. Spratt served as a Group Captain during World War II, but died from ill-health in 1944.

References

Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Spratt, Norman Royal Flying Corps officers British test pilots 1885 births 1944 deaths Military personnel from Durban British aviation record holders British Army personnel of World War I Royal Air Force personnel of World War II Royal Air Force group captains South African test pilots