Duncan Menzies Soutar Simpson (23 December 1927 - 5 December 2017) was a Scottish test pilot who played a key role in the development of the Hunter aircraft, the Harrier, and the Hawk advanced trainer flown by the RAF’s

Red Arrows The Red Arrows, officially known as the Royal Air Force Aerobatic Team, is the aerobatics display team of the Royal Air Force (RAF) based at RAF Waddington. The team was formed in late 1964 as an all-Royal Air Force team, replacing several un ...

. He was the former chief

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 Testin ...

Hawker Siddeley Hawker Siddeley was a group of British manufacturing companies engaged in list of aircraft manufacturers, aircraft production. Hawker Siddeley combined the legacies of several British aircraft manufacturers, emerging through a series of mergers ...

in the 1970s. He flew the first production Harrier aircraft in December 1967, and the first two-seat Harrier in April 1969.

Early life

He was born in

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

, and was educated at

Merchiston Castle School Merchiston Castle School is an independent boarding school for boys in the suburb of Colinton in Edinburgh, Scotland. It has around 470 pupils and is open to boys between the ages of 7 and 18 as either boarding or day pupils; it was modelled ...

there. His uncle was a test pilot 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 that designed important military aircraft, including the ...

Career

de Havilland

After leaving school in 1945 he worked for

de Havilland The de Havilland Aircraft Company Limited (pronounced , ) was a British aviation manufacturer established in late 1920 by Geoffrey de Havilland at Stag Lane Aerodrome Edgware on the outskirts of North London. Operations were later moved to ...

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and one of the home counties. It borders Bedfordshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Essex to the east, Greater London to the ...

Royal Air Force

In 1949 he joined the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

with 6FTS and 226 OCU, and flew the

Gloster Meteor The Gloster Meteor was the first British jet fighter and the Allies' only jet aircraft to engage in combat operations during the Second World War. The Meteor's development was heavily reliant on its ground-breaking turbojet engines, pioneere ...

VIII with 222 Squadron. In 1953 he joined the Day Fighter Development Unit at the

Central Fighter Establishment The Central Fighter Establishment was a Royal Air Force formation that dealt with the development of fighter aircraft tactics which was formed on 4 September 1944 as a nucleus at RAF Tangmere. It also tested new fighter aircraft and equipment, a ...

Hawker Siddeley Aviation

He joined Hawker Siddeley in 1954. He first flew the Hawker Siddeley P.1127 in August 1962; he was the third pilot to fly the P.1127. On 27 December 1967, he was the first the fly the first production Harrier GR1 ''XV738''. On 24 April 1969 he was the first to fly the two-seat Harrier ''XW174''; six weeks later on 4 June 1969 in this aircraft, he was forced to eject at low level (100 ft), over

Larkhill Larkhill is a garrison town in the civil parish of Durrington, Wiltshire, England. It lies about west of the centre of Durrington village and north of the prehistoric monument of Stonehenge. It is about north of Salisbury. The settlement ...

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated to Wilts) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It borders Gloucestershire to the north, Oxfordshire to the north-east, Berkshire to the east, Hampshire to the south-east, Dorset to the south, and Somerset to ...

, when the engine failed at 3,000 ft. On ejection from the aircraft he broke his neck; he needed a

bone graft Bone grafting is a type of transplantation used to replace missing bone tissue or stimulate the healing of fractures. This surgical procedure is useful for repairing bone fractures that are extremely complex, pose a significant health risk to the ...

, and surgeons had to operate via his throat. He returned to flying nine months later, and received the Queen's Commendation for Valuable Service in the Air in the 1969 Birthday Honours. After this incident, all Hawker aircraft were fitted with canopy severance cord to shatter the canopy before ejection occurred. He became deputy chief test pilot in 1969. He became chief test pilot in 1970. He was the first to fly the

Hawk Hawks are birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. They are very widely distributed and are found on all continents, except Antarctica. The subfamily Accipitrinae includes goshawks, sparrowhawks, sharp-shinned hawks, and others. This ...

HS1182 prototype (''XX154'') at around 7pm on 21 August 1974,''Hawker Siddeley Aviation and Dynamics: 1960-77''
/ref> and reached 20,000 ft in a 53-minute flight. The Hawk entered service with the RAF in November 1976.

Personal life

He married in June 1958 and had two sons, and a daughter. They lived in

Guildford Guildford () is a town in west Surrey, England, around south-west of central London. As of the 2011 census, the town has a population of about 77,000 and is the seat of the wider Borough of Guildford, which had around inhabitants in . The nam ...

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

. He received an award in 2011 from the

Honourable Company of Air Pilots The Honourable Company of Air Pilots, formerly the Guild of Air Pilots and Air Navigators (GAPAN), is one of the Livery Companies of the City of London. The Company was founded in 1929, and became a Livery Company in 1956. Elizabeth II granted ...

. He received the OBE in the

1973 Birthday Honours The Queen's Birthday Honours 1973 were appointments in many of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. They were published on 2 June 1973 for ...

. He became a Fellow of the Society of Experimental Test Pilots. He died aged 89 in December 2017.

References

External links

''Telegraph'' obituary 14 December 2017

''Times'' obituary 10 February 2018
{{DEFAULTSORT:Simpson, Duncan 1927 births 2017 deaths Military personnel from Edinburgh 20th-century Royal Air Force personnel BAE Systems Hawk De Havilland Fellows of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers Fellows of the Royal Aeronautical Society Harrier Jump Jet Hawker Siddeley Officers of the Order of the British Empire People educated at Merchiston Castle School People from Edinburgh People from Guildford Recipients of the Commendation for Valuable Service in the Air Royal Air Force officers Scottish test pilots Scottish airmen