HOME





Reginald Brie
Reginald Alfred Charles Brie MBE AFRAeS AFIAeS (27 November 1895 – 1988) was a British rotorcraft test and demonstration pilot. Early life Reginald Brie was born in Egham, Surrey. After leaving school, he started an electrical engineering apprenticeship in Southall. World War I In 1914, he joined the Royal Field Artillery, and in early 1915 he served in the Somme region. He was then posted to Salonika as an artillery spotter. He was promoted to Sergeant, and sent back to England for officer training. He then transferred to the Royal Flying Corps (RFC), and trained as an observer. He was posted to No. 104 Squadron at RAF Andover. In May 1918, he moved with the squadron to Azelot. On one mission, his Airco DH.9 was attacked by German fighters, and a forced landing was made. He and his pilot were captured, and they served as prisoners of war until December 1918. RAF service 1918–1922 In early 1919, he was posted as Transport Officer to No. 2 Group RAF at Oxford. In Septembe ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The United Kingdom includes the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland, and many List of islands of the United Kingdom, smaller islands within the British Isles. Northern Ireland shares Republic of Ireland–United Kingdom border, a land border with the Republic of Ireland; otherwise, the United Kingdom is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, the North Sea, the English Channel, the Celtic Sea and the Irish Sea. The total area of the United Kingdom is , with an estimated 2020 population of more than 67 million people. The United Kingdom has evolved from a series of annexations, unions and separations of constituent countries over several hundred years. The Treaty of Union between ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Stag Lane Aerodrome
Stag Lane Aerodrome was a private aerodrome between 1915 and 1933 in Edgware, north London, UK. History The land for an aerodrome was purchased by the London & Provincial Aviation Company (Warren and Smiles - Michael Geoffrey Smiles of Bonnington died in 1921) in October 1915. The company used the aerodrome for flying training during the First World War. London & Provincial ceased flying in July 1919 after a dispute with Department of Civil Aviation (see United Kingdom Civil Aviation Authority), which refused them a licence. Stag Lane became the main base of The de Havilland Aircraft Company Limited in 1920 and they purchased the freehold in 1922. Former wartime aircraft were refurbished in the early years, and the company designed and built large numbers of aircraft at Stag Lane in the 1920s and early 1930s. In 1934 the company moved to a larger factory and airfield at Hatfield Aerodrome, Hatfield, Hertfordshire. Stag Lane Aerodrome was sold for housing development in 1933, ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Hafner Rotachute
The Hafner H.8 Rotachute was a British 1940s experimental one-man rotor kite designed by Raoul Hafner. Background The Rotachute was the eventual development of a concept devised by Raoul Hafner, an Austrian engineer who specialised in rotary wing design, and who had moved to the UK in 1933 to continue his research and development work. In 1940, he proposed the use of a single-place strap-on rotor kite in place of a conventional parachute, to deliver a soldier accurately to a battlefield. The proposal was made to the Air Ministry in the light of a shortage of silk for parachute manufacture. Hafner was briefly interned as an alien, but was released to pursue the feasibility of the idea at the Central Landing Establishment (CLE) located at RAF Ringway. In October 1940, work began on design and construction of rotor systems and scale models of rotor kites. The first models were made of wood and fabric, ballasted to represent a pilot, and had a rotor span of about 3 ft (0.91 m). T ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

RAF Ringway
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) and the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS). Following the Allied victory over the Central Powers in 1918, the RAF emerged as the largest air force in the world at the time. Since its formation, the RAF has taken a significant role in British military history. In particular, it played a large part in the Second World War where it fought its most famous campaign, the Battle of Britain. The RAF's mission is to support the objectives of the British Ministry of Defence (MOD), which are to "provide the capabilities needed to ensure the security and defence of the United Kingdom and overseas territories, including against terrorism; to support the Government's foreign policy objectives particularly in promoting international peace and security". The ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Central Landing Establishment
The Central Landing Establishment was the Second World War British development centre for airborne warfare at RAF Ringway airfield near Manchester.Thompson 1989, p. 4. Establishment Following Prime Minister Winston Churchill's decision to create a parachute corps within the British Army after German successes using airborne force during the early stages of the war, a parachute training school known as the Central Landing School was set up at RAF Ringway near Manchester in June 1940. On 31 August 1940, it was expanded within the school becoming the Central Landing Establishment. There was a separate Technical unit and the addition of the Glider Training Squadron which would be used by pilots training for the Glider Pilot Regiment. The centre was operated by Royal Air Force and British Army officers working in collaboration. In 1941, the Airborne Forces Establishment was created from the experimental and technical units, renamed in 1942 as the Airborne Forces Experimen ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Hook, London
Hook is a suburban area in south west London, England. It forms part of the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames and is located 12 miles (19.3 km) south west of Charing Cross. Neighbouring settlements include Hinchley Wood, Long Ditton, Surbiton, Tolworth and Chessington. An RAF barrage balloon depot opened in Hook c. 1938 and was later known as RAF Chessington, latterly used as a hospital until demolished and redeveloped for housing in the 1990s. Hook forms part of the Chessington post town. Governance Hook was a civil parish which formed part of the Surbiton Urban District of Surrey from 1895. The urban district became a municipal borough in 1936 and in 1965 its former area was transferred to Greater London. The former area of the Hook parish, together with that of the Chessington parish, form a protrusion of Greater London with the Surrey districts of Elmbridge to the west, Mole Valley to the south and Epsom and Ewell to the east. Transport Hook is on the A2 ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

A3 Road
The A3, known as the Portsmouth Road or London Road in sections, is a major road connecting the City of London and Portsmouth passing close to Kingston upon Thames, Guildford, Haslemere and Petersfield. For much of its length, it is classified as a trunk road and therefore managed by National Highways. Almost all of the road has been built to dual carriageway standards or wider. Apart from bypass sections in London, the road travels in a southwest direction and, after Liss, south-southwest. Close to its southerly end, motorway traffic is routed via the A3(M), then either the east–west A27 or the Portsmouth-only M275 which has multiple lanes leading off the westbound A27 — for non-motorway traffic, the A3 continues into Portsmouth alongside the A3(M), mostly as a single carriageway in each direction through Waterlooville and adjoining small towns. The other section of single carriageways is through the urban environs of Battersea, Clapham and Stockwell towards ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Alan Marsh (pilot)
Henry Alan Marsh AFC AFRAeS (29 January 1901 – 13 June 1950) was a British rotorcraft instructor and test pilot. Early life Alan Marsh was born in Stratton, Dorset. In 1917, he completed his education at Weymouth Secondary School, and started an engineering apprenticeship in Dorchester, Dorset. RAF service 1918–1930 In 1918, he joined the RAF as a 3rd Air Mechanic, and was posted to the first aircraft apprenticeship course at Halton. After being promoted to corporal, he joined the second course of NCO pilots at No. 2 FTS, Duxford. In November 1923, he passed out as a Sergeant Pilot with special distinction, and was posted to No. 41 Squadron. In 1924, he joined No. 1 Squadron, flying Sopwith Snipes in Iraq. In 1926, he was posted to No. 111 Squadron, flying Armstrong-Whitworth Siskins. In 1927 and 1928, he represented No. 111 Squadron in RAF flying displays. In September 1928, he joined an instructors' course at the Central Flying School (CFS) at RAF Wittering. He pa ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Hamble-le-Rice
Hamble-le-Rice is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Eastleigh in Hampshire, England. It is best known for being an aircraft training centre during the Second World War and is a popular yachting location. The village and the River Hamble also featured in the 1980s BBC television series '' Howards' Way''. The village centre, known as The Square, Hamble, has a more traditional English village aesthetic which differentiates it from the small industrial areas (mostly marinas) close to the village. Location Hamble-le-Rice is on the south coast of England, south-east of Southampton at the tip of the Hamble peninsula, bounded by Netley, Butlocks Heath, Bursledon, Southampton Water and the River Hamble. History Although previously known as "Hamble", "Hamelea", "Hammel", and "Ham-en-le-Rice", the village's official name is now Hamble-le-Rice. The name "Hamble" is still in common usage. On 27 April 1992, the civil parish was renamed from "Hamble" to "Hamble-le-Rice". To ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

London Air Park
London Air Park, also known as Hanworth Air Park, was a grass airfield in the grounds of Hanworth Park House, operational 1917–1919 and 1929–1947. It was on the southeastern edge of Feltham, now part of the London Borough of Hounslow. In the 1930s, it was best known as a centre for private flying, society events, visits by the Graf Zeppelin airship, and for aircraft manufacture by the Whitehead Aircraft Company during World War I and General Aircraft Limited (GAL) 1934–1949; in total over 1,650 aircraft were built here. Hanworth Park House In 1797, the manor house was destroyed by fire, leaving only the stable block, which survives today as flats, plus the coach house, which was converted into homes. c. 1799, a new house was built on the same site known as Hanworth House. In 1827, the house and estate of c. 680 acres (known as Hanworth Great Park), including three farms was sold outright to Henry Perkins. During the 1830s, the current building known as Hanworth Park Hous ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  




Cierva Autogiro Company
The Cierva Autogiro Company was a British firm established in 1926 to develop the autogyro. The company was set up to further the designs of Juan de la Cierva, a Spanish engineer and pilot, with the financial backing of James George Weir, a Scottish industrialist and aviator. History Juan de la Cierva's first British-built autogyro was the C.8 design. It and some other designs were built in conjunction with Avro. The pre-war Cierva C.30 proved popular. Nearly 150 were built under licence in the United Kingdom by Avro, in Germany by Focke-Wulf, and in France by Lioré-et-Olivier. On 9 December 1936, Cierva was killed in the Croydon KLM airliner accident when the aircraft in which he was a passenger crashed after taking off in fog. Dr. James Allan Jamieson Bennett was promoted to Chief Technical Officer of the company and remained in the position until leaving in 1939. In addition to making important contributions to autogyro controls while at Cierva Autogyro, Bennett carrie ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


James George Weir
Air Commodore James George Weir, (23 May 1887 – 7 November 1973) was an early Scottish aviator and airman. He was a successful industrialist who financed Juan de la Cierva's development of the autogiro. Biography Weir was born in Cambuslang, Lanarkshire, Scotland in 1887 the son of James Weir of G. & J. Weir Ltd. and younger brother of William Douglas Weir. Both were involved in the family engineering firm. Weir was commissioned on 24 February 1906 as an officer in the 3rd (Renfrewshire) Volunteer Battalion, Princess Louise's (Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders). On 1 April 1908 he transferred to the 3rd Highland (Howitzer) Brigade, Royal Field Artillery. On 27 June 1911 Weir was found guilty of striking and knocking down on 13 April 1911 a former fiancé of his sister after he had broken off their engagement. Weir was awarded the 24th Royal Aero Club aviators certificate after flying a Bleriot Monoplane at Hendon on 8 November 1910. In 1914 he was transferred to the Royal ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]