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Aviation History
1956
1956 - 1421.PDF
5 October 1956 SIR RICHARD FAIREY A Great Designer and Industrialist WITH deep regret we record the death, in the early morn-ing of September 30, of Sir Richard Fairey, M.B.E.,Hon.F.R.Ae.S., Hon.F.I.Ae.S., founder and executive chairman of The Fairey Aviation Co., Ltd. Sir Richard, whowas 69, had been suffering for several years from an ailment of the heart and chest. For some days he had been under observationand treatment in a London nursing home, and he had undergone an operation on September 29. This was successfully completedbut several hours later Sir Richard suffered a respiratory failure. Charles Richard Fairey was born on May 5, 1887, at Hendon,and was educated at the Merchant Taylors' School and at the Finsbury Technical College (City and Guilds), where he qualifiedas an electrical engineer. In that profession he rose quickly, but even in those early days he was taking a keen interest in aviation,devoting all his spare time and energy to the making of models. By 1910 these had achieved records for height, speed and distance.In 1911 he relinquished his electrical career and obtained a post with the Blair Atholl Syndicate, then working on tailless aircraftto the designs of J. W. Dunne at Eastchurch, Isle of Sheppey. While thus employed Mr. Fairey met Vincent Nicholl, MauriceWright and F. G. T. Dawson, all of whom were later to assist him in building up his great organization. In 1913 he joinedShort Brothers as chief engineer, and two years later founded his own company, with a factory at Hayes, Middlesex, and adrawing office in Piccadilly. Having constructed Short seaplanes and Sopwith H-Strutters, the company embarked on the manu-facture of its own designs, as later recounted. From 1922 to 1924 Mr. Fairey was chairman of the Societyof British Aircraft Constructors, and from 1923 to 1926 a member of the Aeronautical Research Committee. He was President ofthe Royal Aeronautical Society for 1930/31 and 1932/33, and was awarded the Wakefield Gold Medal by the Royal AeronauticalSociety for the development of the Fairey variable-camber gear. In 1942 he was in the United States as Director-General of theBritish Air Commission in Washington, and also as a member of the Joint Aircraft Committee and combined Aluminium/Mag-nesium Committee. He was created an M.B.E. (Civil) in 1920 and was knighted in 1942. He was a Commandeur de l'Ordre dela Couronne (Belgium), a Fellow of the City and Guilds Institute and was awarded the Medal of Freedom with Silver Palm (U.S.A.). The first Fairey aircraft built to original designs was the F.2fighter of 1916. This was followed by outstandingly successful seaplanes, including the Hamble Baby (an adaptation of a Sopwithdesign), the Campania and various models of the "Type III." When, to mark the company's fortieth anniversary, the history ofthe Fairey range of aircraft was described in detail in Flight for Ji ly 22, 1955, it was remarked that from the Series III weredeveloped the IIIA, B, C, D, F, Gordon and Seal. Production of these versatile biplanes continued—in metal and with variousengines—until the 1930s. The Atlanta and Titania flying-boats of the early post-war years were, in their day, the world's largest,and the sturdy little Flycatcher was one of the most popular of Naval fighters. It was the Fox I day bomber of 1926, however,with which the name of Richard Fairey will always be immediately associated. This beautiful biplane incorporated American designfeatures and used an American engine, and Sir Richard would recall that when work started on its development—as a privateventure—there was no more than £7,000 in the "kitty." This increased, but by the time the Fox had made good its promise,all had gone. It was then that Lord Trenchard came to the rescue with a contract for one squadron of Foxes, and this unit—No. 12—repeatedly eluded the defenders in air exercises. The Fox was progressively anglicized and "metallized" and important foreigncontracts were secured for this and for the Firefly biplane fighter. Belgian acceptance of these types led to the establishment, in1931, of Avions Fairey as a Belgian subsidiary. Of two Long- Range Monoplanes built, one gained the world's long distancerecord with a flight of 5,340 miles. Another notable Fairey monoplane was the Hendon night bomber. In the late '30s the Battle bomber was produced for the R.A.F.and the Swordfish and Seafox for the Fleet Air Arm. The P.4/34 bomber was evolved into the Fulmar fighter, and important con-tracts were also secured for the Swordfish and Albacore. Dubbed "Stringbag," the Swordfish was one of the most popular andeffective machines of the Second World War. There followed the Barracuda torpedo monoplane and the Firefly fighter, thelatter being developed into an anti-submarine aircraft pending the introduction of the turboprop Gannet as now in service. In1946 appeared the Stooge missile, and a year later the Gyrodyne helicopter, which established a speed record for its class. TheGyrodyne was later converted to the Jet Gyrodyne (described in this issue), and this machine is the precursor of the massiveRotodyne, now coming through the shops. In 1947 V.T.O. delta- wing rocket-propelled models were built, reproducing thecharacteristics of the F.D.I research aircraft, flown in 1951. In 1954 the F.D.2 supersonic research machine was first tested, andon March 10, 1956, this was to astonish the world by raising the international speed record to 1,132 m.p.h. A Fairey masterpiece: a "Flight" photograph of the Fox I day bomber.
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