Rex McCandless (1915–1992) was a former

motorcycle racer Motorcycle racing (also called moto racing and motorbike racing) is the motorcycle sport of racing motorcycles. Major varieties include motorcycle road racing and off-road racing, both either on circuits or open courses, and track racing. Oth ...

, designer and constructor from Northern Ireland. Born in

Hillsborough Hillsborough may refer to: Australia *Hillsborough, New South Wales, a suburb of Lake Macquarie Canada *Hillsborough, New Brunswick *Hillsborough Parish, New Brunswick * Hillsborough, Nova Scotia, in Inverness County *Hillsborough (electoral d ...

County Down County Down () is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. It covers an area of and has a population of 531,665. It borders County Antrim to th ...

, McCandless had been a successful motorcycle racer prior to the Second World War. During the war, he worked in the aviation industry. He had been working as a vehicle mechanic when in 1943, he went into business with his brother Cromie McCandless to repair vehicles for the Ministry of Supply. It was at this time that he built his own motorcycle which became the prototype for the successful

featherbed frame The featherbed frame was a motorcycle frame invented by the McCandless brothers and offered to the British Norton motorcycle company to improve the performance of their racing motorcycles in 1950. It was considered revolutionary at the time,"' ...

adapted by the

Norton Motorcycle Company The Norton Motorcycle Company (formerly Norton Motors, Ltd.) is a brand of motorcycles, originally based in Birmingham, England. For some years around 1990, the rights to use the name on motorcycles was owned by North American financiers. From ...

. In the following years McCandless worked on the frame design, improving it and calling it the 'Kneeler'. This version went on to break many world speed records. In the mid-1950s he moved into four wheels and he designed two aluminum-bodied racing cars for

Harry Ferguson Henry George "Harry" Ferguson (4 November 188425 October 1960) was a British mechanic and inventor who is noted for his role in the development of the modern agricultural tractor and its three point linkage system, for being the first perso ...

. In the 1960s he turned his attention to aviation and built his own

autogyro An autogyro (from Greek and , "self-turning"), also known as a ''gyroplane'', is a type of rotorcraft that uses an unpowered rotor in free autorotation to develop lift. Forward thrust is provided independently, by an engine-driven propeller. ...

References

External links

Biography

On BBC

1915 births 1992 deaths People from Hillsborough, County Down Motorcycle racers from Northern Ireland British motorcycle designers {{UK-motorcycle-racing-bio-stub