Philip Lucas GM (1902–1981) was an English aviator and test pilot who was awarded the George Medal for his courage and skill landing a damaged Hawker Typhoon prototype. Philip Gadesden Lucas was born on 3 September 1902 at

Bexleyheath Bexleyheath is a town in south-east London, England. It had a population of 31,929 as at 2011. Bexleyheath is located south-east of Charing Cross, and forms part of the London Borough of Bexley. It is identified in the London Plan as one of ...

, Kent and was educated at Epsom College before starting an apprenticeship with Vickers. He joined the Royal Air Force in 1926 and by 1931 had joined

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 ...

as a test pilot. In 1939 he became Hawker's Chief Experimental Test Pilot operating from Brooklands in Surrey and Langley in Buckinghamshire. He flew the Hawker Hurricane, Hawker Typhoon and Hawker Tempest straight from the production line and for development flying. In 1941 Lucas was flying a Hawker Typhoon prototype that he managed to land safely after it suffered a structural failure during flight. For his courage and skill he was awarded the George Medal: Lucas retired from test flying in 1946 and became general manager of Hawker Aircraft, which by the time he retired in 1967 had become Hawker Siddeley Aviation. He died in

Crawley Crawley () is a large town and borough in West Sussex, England. It is south of London, north of Brighton and Hove, and north-east of the county town of Chichester. Crawley covers an area of and had a population of 106,597 at the time of th ...

, West Sussex on 18 December 1981, aged 79.

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