Wing Commander Wing commander (Wg Cdr in the RAF, the IAF, and the PAF, WGCDR in the RNZAF and RAAF, formerly sometimes W/C in all services) is a senior commissioned rank in the British Royal Air Force and air forces of many countries which have historical ...

Kenneth Horatio Wallis (26 April 1916 – 1 September 2013) was a British aviator, engineer, and inventor. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, Wallis served in the

Royal Air Force 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) an ...

and flew 28 bomber missions over Germany; after the war, he moved on to research and development, before retiring in 1964. He later became one of the leading exponents of

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. Whi ...

s and earned 34 world records, still holding eight of them at the time of his death in 2013.

Early life

Born on 26 April 1916 at Ely, he was educated at The Kings' School Ely

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a county in the East of England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire to t ...

. Wallis developed a practical interest in mechanics, building a motorcycle at the age of 11. In 1936, he was inspired by a demonstration by

Henri Mignet Henri Mignet, (October 19, 1893 – August 31, 1965), was a French radio engineer who became well known as an aircraft designer and builder.Ellis & Jones (1990)Plane and Pilot: ''1978 Aircraft Directory'', page 142. Werner & Werner Corp, Santa ...

of his

Mignet HM.14 The Mignet HM.14 ''Flying Flea'' (''Pou du Ciel'' literally "Louse of the Sky" in French) is a single-seat light aircraft first flown in 1933, designed for amateur construction. It was the first of a family of aircraft collectively known as Flyi ...

''Pou-du-Ciel'' ("Flying Flea"). Using only Mignet's book, Wallis gathered the materials required, and started to build his own ''Flying Flea''. He abandoned construction because of widespread adverse publicity about fatal accidents that implied inadequate design of the type. Wallis took an interest in powerboats which he kept up until 1957, when he won the long Missouri Marathon.

Military career

Wallis applied for the RAF's Volunteer Reserve Service but was turned away because of an issue with his right eye. Consequently, he obtained a private flying licence, which required only a certificate signed by his GP. In 1938, Wallis again tried to join the RAF, but failed the eye test. He applied again in 1939 and finally passed the eye test, explaining, "I did the first line with my good eye then they covered it up and asked me to read the bottom line with my bad eye, without them realising I just turned my head slightly so I could again see with my good eye—I passed it with Above Average Eye Sight!" Wallis's military career started with

Westland Lysander The Westland Lysander is a British army co-operation and liaison aircraft produced by Westland Aircraft that was used immediately before and during the Second World War. After becoming obsolete in the army co-operation role, the aircraft' ...

patrols in the RAF. In 1942, he was transferred to

RAF Bomber Command RAF Bomber Command controlled the Royal Air Force's bomber forces from 1936 to 1968. Along with the United States Army Air Forces, it played the central role in the strategic bombing of Germany in World War II. From 1942 onward, the British bo ...

, flying Wellingtons near

Grimsby Grimsby or Great Grimsby is a port town and the administrative centre of North East Lincolnshire, Lincolnshire, England. Grimsby adjoins the town of Cleethorpes directly to the south-east forming a conurbation. Grimsby is north-east of L ...

. Wallis subsequently served in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

and on secondment to the United States

Strategic Air Command Strategic Air Command (SAC) was both a United States Department of Defense Specified Command and a United States Air Force (USAF) Major Command responsible for command and control of the strategic bomber and intercontinental ballistic missile ...

, where he flew the massive

Convair B-36 The Convair B-36 "Peacemaker" is a strategic bomber that was built by Convair and operated by the United States Air Force (USAF) from 1949 to 1959. The B-36 is the largest mass-produced piston-engined aircraft ever built. It had the longest win ...

, which had six piston engines and four auxiliary jet engines. Thereafter, he was involved in research and development, and was awarded a number of patents on his inventions. Wallis left the RAF in 1964, retiring to

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the Nor ...

Autogyros

Wallis who lived at Reymerston Hall, Norfolk produced

s for, in his own words, "reconnaissance, research and development, surveillance and military purposes", and his designs were not available for enthusiasts as he considered that although the design is simple, it has to be built to the appropriate standards. His contribution to autogyro design included the "offset gimbal rotor head". Wallis had the help of

Beagle Aircraft Beagle Aircraft Limited was a British light aircraft manufacturer. The company produced the Airedale, Terrier, Beagle 206, Husky and the Pup. It had factories at Rearsby in Leicestershire and Shoreham in Sussex. The company was dissolved ...

in building five Wallis WA-116 autogyros at Shoreham in 1962 for evaluation by the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurkha ...

. This collaboration ended when the British Army chose the

Westland Sioux The Bell H-13 Sioux is an American single-engine light helicopter built by Bell Helicopter and manufactured by Westland Aircraft under license for the British military as the Sioux AH.1 and HT.2. Development In 1947, the United States Army ...

for this role. Wallis worked as

Sean Connery Sir Sean Connery (born Thomas Connery; 25 August 1930 – 31 October 2020) was a Scottish actor. He was the first actor to portray fictional British secret agent James Bond on film, starring in seven Bond films between 1962 and 1983. Origina ...

's stunt pilot in the

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 5 ** Spain and Romania sign an agreement in Paris, establishing full consular and ...

James Bond The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors hav ...

film '' You Only Live Twice'', where he flew one of his WA-116s named ''Little Nellie''. In 1970 it was announced that Airmark would produce his autogyro design with a

certificate of airworthiness A standard certificate of airworthiness is a permit for commercial passenger or cargo operation, issued for an aircraft by the civil aviation authority in the state/nation in which the aircraft is registered. For other aircraft such as crop-spraye ...

, that being essential for commercial use of the autogyro. Expected price was around £3,000. Between 2006 and 2009, Wallis took part in filming for '' Into the Wind'', a documentary by Steven Hatton featuring the experiences and memories of wartime members of Bomber Command. The film, released in 2012, features Wallis demonstrating several of his autogyro designs. Wallis was the President of the Norfolk and Suffolk Aviation Museum, and Patron of the Wolf Preservation Foundation.

Autogyros and aircraft

* Wallbro Monoplane Replica *

Wallis WA-116 Agile The Wallis WA-116 Agile is a British autogyro developed in the early 1960s by former Royal Air Force Wing Commander Ken Wallis. The aircraft was produced in a number of variants, one of which, nicknamed ''Little Nellie'', was flown in the 1967 Ja ...

* Wallis WA-117 * Wallis WA-118 Meteorite * Wallis WA-119 *

Wallis WA-120 The Wallis WA-120 is an experimental British autogyro developed by Ken Wallis. Design and development Following on from his family of single-seat autogyros former Royal Air Force aviator Wing Commander Ken Wallis Wing Commander Kenneth Horat ...

* Wallis WA-121 * Wallis WA-122

Recognition

Wallis was the recognized world record holder for many categories of autogyro records over the years, and was also recognized as the oldest pilot to set a world flight record at the age of 89. Wallis held most of the autogyro world records during his autogyro flying career. These include the

Fédération Aéronautique Internationale The (; FAI; en, World Air Sports Federation) is the world governing body for air sports, and also stewards definitions regarding human spaceflight. It was founded on 14 October 1905, and is headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland. It maintain ...

time-to-climb,FAI Record ID #5346 - Autogyro, Time to climb to a height of 3 000 m
" ''

(FAI).'' Retrieved: 28 November 2013. a speed record of 189 km/h (111.7 mph),FAI Record ID #303 - Autogyro, Speed over a straight 15/25 km course
" ''

(FAI).'' Retrieved: 28 November 2013. and the straight-line distance record of . On 16 November 2002, Wallis increased the speed record to 207.7 km/h (129.1 mph).FAI Record ID #7601 - Autogyro, Speed over a 3 km course
" ''

(FAI).'' Retrieved: 28 November 2013. Wallis appeared as himself on an episode of Tell The Truth dated 9 November 1984, discussing his autogyro record. Wallis received the MBE in 1996. In July 2013, Wallis received a campaign medal for his 28 bomber missions over Germany during World War II.

Later life

He was married to Peggy Stapley, a

Women's Auxiliary Air Force The Women's Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF), whose members were referred to as WAAFs (), was the female auxiliary of the Royal Air Force during World War II. Established in 1939, WAAF numbers exceeded 180,000 at its peak strength in 1943, with over 2 ...

veteran, from 1942 to her death in 2003. Wallis died on 1 September 2013, aged 97. Prior to his death, he was living in the quiet Norfolk village of Reymerston. Old Buckenham Airport held a memorial event on 29 September 2013 at the request of the Wallis family: "A Celebration of the Life of Wing Commander Ken Wallis". It had been expected that about 500 people would attend, but an estimated 3,000 to 4,000 attended the event.item
''ITV Anglia News'' 30 September 2013

References

;Notes ;Bibliography * Barkham, Patrick
"That magnificent man in his flying machine."
''The Guardian,'' 10 August 2010. * Hancock, Ian. ''The Lives of Ken Wallis: Engineer and Aviator Extraordinaire''. London: Ian Hancock, Fifth edition 2010. .
"War veteran reaches for the skies."
''BBC News,'' 14 December 2000.

External links

www.kenwallisautogyro.com
nbsp;— Official site

nbsp;— Interactive 360 Degree image of Ken with his autogyro collection
"You only live once"
nbsp;— short video {{DEFAULTSORT:Wallis, Ken 1916 births 2013 deaths People from Ely, Cambridgeshire English aviators Royal Air Force officers British World War II pilots British World War II bomber pilots Members of the Order of the British Empire Segrave Trophy recipients Fellows of the Royal Aeronautical Society British aviation record holders English inventors