Eric Cecil Gordon England (5 April 1891 – February 1976) AFRAeS, FIMT,Gordon England Ltd. ''The Times'', Tuesday, 5 February 1929; p. 18; Issue 45119. was a British aviator, racing driver and engineer.Who Was Who, A & C Black, 1920–2008; online edn, Oxford University Press, Dec 2007 http://www.ukwhoswho.com/view/article/oupww/whowaswho/U154245 accessed 24 November 2010 E.C. Gordon England was one of the early pioneers of gliding, and his glider flight in 1909 is considered to be the birth of the sport of

soaring Soaring may refer to: * Gliding, in which pilots fly unpowered aircraft known as gliders or sailplanes * Lift (soaring), a meteorological phenomenon used as an energy source by some aircraft and birds * ''Soaring'' (magazine), a magazine produced ...

Early years

Gordon England was born in Argentina in 1891, the son of British parents George and Amy England. He emigrated to England at age ten, and he was first educated at New College, Eastbourne; then from 1904 to 1906 at

Framlingham College Framlingham College is a public school ( boarding and day school) in the town of Framlingham, near Woodbridge, Suffolk, England. Together with its preparatory school and nursery at Brandeston Hall, it serves pupils from 3 to 18 years of age ...

in Suffolk. He then started an

engineering apprentice An engineering apprenticeship in the United Kingdom is an apprenticeship in mechanical engineering or electrical engineering or aeronautical engineering to train craftsmen, technicians, senior technicians, Incorporated Engineers and Chartered Eng ...

ship with the Great Northern Railway works at

Doncaster Doncaster ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England. Named after the River Don, Yorkshire, River Don, it is the administrative centre of the City of Doncaster metropolitan borough, and is the second largest se ...

becoming a fellow-apprentice of

W O Bentley Walter Owen Bentley, (16 September 1888 – 13 August 1971) was an English engineer who founded Bentley in London. He was a motorcycle and car racer as a young man. After making a name for himself as a designer of aircraft and automobile engin ...

Early aviation and gliders

In 1908, he left the railways for his first job in aviation, working as an assistant for

Noel Pemberton Billing Noel Pemberton Billing (31 January 1881 – 11 November 1948), sometimes known as Noel Pemberton-Billing, was a British aviator, inventor, publisher and Member of Parliament for Hertford. He founded the firm that became Supermarine and promoted ...

who was trying to establish a flying ground at

South Fambridge South Fambridge is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Ashingdon, in the Rochford district, in the county of Essex, England. It is located about 300 yards (0.17 miles) from the River Crouch. The village lies with ...

in Essex. While working for Pemberton Billing he met

José Weiss José is a predominantly Spanish and Portuguese form of the given name Joseph. While spelled alike, this name is pronounced very differently in each of the two languages: Spanish ; Portuguese (or ). In French, the name ''José'', pronounced , ...

, who designed and built tailless gliders, and England became an assistant to Weiss. On 27 June 1909, Gordon England flew a Weiss glider (named ''Olive'' after one of Weiss's five daughters), at Amberley Mount, Sussex, on a height-gaining flight that reached 100 feet. It is the first recorded soaring flight, and is considered to be the birth of the sport of

Gliding Gliding is a recreational activity and competitive air sports, air sport in which pilots fly glider aircraft, unpowered aircraft known as Glider (sailplane), gliders or sailplanes using naturally occurring currents of rising air in the atmospher ...

Aviator, designer and engineer

In 1911, Gordon England taught himself to fly at the Bristol flying school at

Brooklands Brooklands was a motor racing circuit and aerodrome built near Weybridge in Surrey, England, United Kingdom. It opened in 1907 and was the world's first purpose-built 'banked' motor racing circuit as well as one of Britain's first airfields, ...

, and he gained Pilot Certificate No. 68 in three hours. Later in 1911, he joined the

Bristol Aeroplane Company The Bristol Aeroplane Company, originally the British and Colonial Aeroplane Company, was both one of the first and one of the most important British aviation companies, designing and manufacturing both airframes and aircraft engines. Notable ...

as a staff pilot, but was soon recognised as a designer. One of his first design tasks was to convert a Bristol T-type biplane into a tractor design, which was then named the Bristol Challenger-England. This conversion was followed by three biplanes ( the G.E.1, G.E.2 and G.E.3), all designed by Gordon England. In August 1912, the G.E.2 was flown by Gordon England in the Military Aeroplane Trials at

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 ...

. Gordon England left the Bristol company, and in 1912 in association with

James Radley James Radley (1884–1959) was one of the first English aviators, holding Royal Aero Club Aviators Certificate Number 12. As well as carrying out demonstration flights and competitions in aircraft, he also piloted a ballon in a number of bal ...

produced the Radley-England waterplane; it was the first three-engined aircraft built in the United Kingdom. Between 1913 and 1916, he was a

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 ...

and consultant

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, build, maintain and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials. They aim to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while ...

to a number of aircraft constructors, mainly on the English south coast, including J. Samuel White and Company and

White and Thompson The Norman Thompson Flight Company was a British aircraft manufacturer specialising in the construction of flying boats. It was formed as the White and Thompson Company in 1912, and designed and built the Norman Thompson NT.4 patrol aircraft a ...

. He also test flew the

Lee-Richards annular monoplane During the pioneer years before the First World War, Cedric Lee and G. Tilghman Richards in the UK built and flew a series of aircraft having a novel flat ring-shaped or annular wing. They built both biplane and monoplane types, and in 1913 the ...

. In 1916, he became the factory manager for

Frederick Sage & Company Frederick Sage & Company was a British shop fitting company based in London with an extensive practice in Europe, South Africa, and South America. During both world wars it built and designed aircraft, and after the Second World War it execute ...

, which was building Short-designed seaplanes and

Avro 504K The Avro 504 is a single-engine biplane bomber made by the Avro aircraft company and under licence by others. Production during World War I totalled 8,970 and continued for almost 20 years, making it the most-produced aircraft of any kind that ...

s under licence.

Motor racing, car building and later life

In 1919, Gordon England left Frederick Sage & Co to become a consultant, and started an interest in motor racing. In 1922, with his father George, he became interested in building bodies for the Austin Seven sports cars. Using his skills gained with aircraft, he designed and patented a new lightweight body made from plywood box-girders and an ash framework covered with thin plywood panels. In 1925, he entered the

24 Hours of Le Mans The 24 Hours of Le Mans () is an endurance-focused Sports car racing, sports car race held annually near the city of Le Mans, France. It is widely considered to be one of the world's most prestigious races, and is one of the races—along with ...

race using one of his own designs, but he failed to finish. By 1927, over 20,000 Austin Sevens had been built with England bodies. He incorporated the company as Gordon England (1929) Ltd, but with the increase in the use of metal bodies, the firm eventually closed in 1930. England became manager of the automotive lubricants department at the Vacuum Oil Company 1930–1935. He was managing director of

General Aircraft Limited General Aircraft Limited was a British aircraft manufacturer from its formation in 1931 to amalgamation with Blackburn Aircraft in 1949 to become Blackburn and General. Its main products were military gliders and light transport aircraft. His ...

1935–1942, and chairman of the Engineering Industries Association 1940–1944. General Manager, Eugene Ltd, 1945–1950. Life Member Council British Automobile Racing Club; Founder Member of Railway Conversion League; Member, Economic Research Council. FIMI, FRAeS, MIProdE. In 1945, Gordon England contested the

Bury St Edmunds Bury St Edmunds (), commonly referred to locally as ''Bury,'' is a cathedral as well as market town and civil parish in the West Suffolk District, West Suffolk district, in the county of Suffolk, England.OS Explorer map 211: Bury St. Edmunds an ...

seat in the

General Election A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from By-election, by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. Gener ...

, standing for the socialist

Common Wealth Party The Common Wealth Party (CW) was a socialist political party in the United Kingdom with parliamentary representation in the House of Commons from 1942 (the middle of the Second World War) until 1946. Thereafter CW continued to function, e ...

, but failed to get elected. England died in February 1976.

References

Notes

Bibliography

External links

earlyaviators.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:England, Eric Cecil Gordon 1891 births 1976 deaths 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers British aviation pioneers British motorsport people British aerospace engineers British glider pilots People educated at Framlingham College Common Wealth Party Argentine emigrants to the United Kingdom