Barry Pemberton Laight (12 July 1920 – 6 October 2012) was a British aerospace engineer, known for his design of the Spey-engined

Buccaneer Buccaneers were a kind of privateers or free sailors particular to the Caribbean Sea during the 17th and 18th centuries. First established on northern Hispaniola as early as 1625, their heyday was from the Restoration in 1660 until about 168 ...

, one of the last all-British military aircraft, which left

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 ...

service in March 1994.

Early life

He was the son of Donald Laight and Nora Pemberton, and was born in Liverpool. His father was a mechanic in the Royal Flying Corps. In the 1930s he attended the Johnston School in the City of Durham, a

grammar school A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented secondary school ...

. He later went to Birmingham Central Technical College (later

Aston University Aston University (abbreviated as ''Aston''. for post-nominals) is a public research university situated in the city centre of Birmingham, England. Aston began as the Birmingham Municipal Technical School in 1895, evolving into the UK's first ...

), and the Merchant Venturer's Technical College in Bristol. In July 1937 he was awarded a scholarship from the Society of British Aerospace Constructors. He would later gain an MSc from the

University of Bristol , mottoeng = earningpromotes one's innate power (from Horace, ''Ode 4.4'') , established = 1595 – Merchant Venturers School1876 – University College, Bristol1909 – received royal charter , type ...

Career

Hawker Siddeley

He became Chief Engineer at the Hawker division of Hawker Siddeley (Advanced Projects Group) in 1963, and Director for Military Projects of HSA in 1968. At Hawker Siddeley he worked with Ralph Hooper on development of the Harrier for the RAF, and the development of the Hawk for the RAF too. He worked on the proposed

Hawker Siddeley P.1154 The Hawker Siddeley P.1154 was a planned supersonic vertical/short take-off and landing (V/STOL) fighter aircraft designed by Hawker Siddeley Aviation (HSA). Development originally started under P.1150, which was essentially a larger and fas ...

, which was cancelled in February 1965.Harrier Story
/ref>

Personal life

He married Ruth Murton in 1951. They had a son and daughter. He became a member of Mensa in 1945. He was given the Silver Medal of the RAeS in 1963. He became a

Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering Fellowship of the Royal Academy of Engineering (FREng) is an award and fellowship for engineers who are recognised by the Royal Academy of Engineering as being the best and brightest engineers, inventors and technologists in the UK and from aroun ...

in 1981. He lived in

Esher Esher ( ) is a town in Surrey, England, to the east of the River Mole. Esher is an outlying suburb of London near the London-Surrey Border, and with Esher Commons at its southern end, the town marks one limit of the Greater London Built-Up ...

References

External links

Future V/STOL Combat Aircraft in 1968

{{DEFAULTSORT:Laight, Barry 1920 births 2012 deaths Alumni of the University of Bristol English aerospace engineers Fellows of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers Fellows of the Royal Academy of Engineering Fellows of the Royal Aeronautical Society Mensans Officers of the Order of the British Empire People from Durham, England People from Esher Royal Aeronautical Society Silver Medal winners Engineers from Liverpool Alumni of Aston University