''For the businessman, see Alec Ogilvie (businessman).'' Lieutenant-Colonel Alexander Ogilvie CBE (8 June 1882 – 18 June 1962) was an early British aviation pioneer, a friend of the

Wright Brothers The Wright brothers, Orville Wright (August 19, 1871 – January 30, 1948) and Wilbur Wright (April 16, 1867 – May 30, 1912), were American aviation List of aviation pioneers, pioneers generally credited with inventing, building, and flyin ...

and only the seventh British person to qualify as a pilot. During

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

Ogilvie served with the

Royal Naval Air Service The Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) was the air arm of the Royal Navy, under the direction of the Admiralty (United Kingdom), Admiralty's Air Department, and existed formally from 1 July 1914 to 1 April 1918, when it was merged with the British ...

before transferring to the

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on its creation in 1918. During the War he was chiefly employed in technical posts and after the War he worked as a consulting

aeronautical engineer Aerospace engineering is the primary field of engineering concerned with the development of aircraft and spacecraft. It has two major and overlapping branches: aeronautical engineering and astronautical engineering. Avionics engineering is s ...

Early life

Alexander Ogilivie was born in 1882 in the

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district of

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. He was educated at

Rugby School Rugby School is a Public school (United Kingdom), private boarding school for pupils aged 13–18, located in the town of Rugby, Warwickshire in England. Founded in 1567 as a free grammar school for local boys, it is one of the oldest independ ...

and

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Early aviator

In 1908 Ogilvie watched Wilbur Wright carry out a demonstration flight in France and within two months he had ordered a Wright Biplane for himself. Before the biplane was delivered in 1909 he practised flying at Friston, Sussex using a glider. Ogilvie established a flying base on Camber Sands near Rye, Sussex and took part in a number of aviation meetings around the country. He joined the

Royal Aero Club The Royal Aero Club (RAeC) is the national co-ordinating body for air sport in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1901 as the Aero Club of Great Britain, being granted the title of the "Royal Aero Club" in 1910. History The Aero Club was foun ...

on 11 May 1909 and gained only the seventh Royal Aero Club aviator's certificate on 24 May 1910.''Flight'' 28 May 1910
/ref> In 1910 using a Wright racing biplane he entered the Gordon Bennett competition at Belmont Park in New York, he was placed third in the competition (for which he was awarded the Silver medal of the Royal Aero Club) and brought the aircraft back to England. The following year he had more success in that race, coming in fourth in his Wright at an average 55 mph. In 1912, Ogilvie invented an

airspeed indicator The airspeed indicator (ASI) or airspeed gauge is a flight instrument indicating the airspeed of an aircraft in kilometres per hour (km/h), knots (kn or kt), miles per hour (MPH) and/or metres per second (m/s). The recommendation by ICAO is to u ...

which was later adopted by the

(RNAS). In 1911 he joined Orville Wright at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, United States during Wright's experiments with soaring making several flights. He continued to use a Wright aircraft up to 1914 including in 1913 flying

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as a passenger.

First World War

On 19 February 1915 Ogilvie was commissioned as an RNAS officer in the rank of squadron commander. Ogilvie initially was given responsibility for overseeing flying training at the Naval Flying School, Eastchurch. On 5 April 1916 he took command of the aircraft repair depot at Dunkirk, and was promoted acting wing commander on 31 December 1916. On 5 March 1917 he became a member of the Air Board, eventually serving as controller of the technical department. The rank of wing commander was confirmed on 30 June 1917. In early 1918, Ogilvie reported on flight tests of the Sopwith Snipe, stating that "its flying qualities are bad"; however, he was overruled by Trenchard and Brooke-Popham and orders were placed. On 1 April 1918, along with all other RNAS personnel, Ogilvie transferred to the newly established

in the rank of

major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

(temporary lieutenant-colonel). A note in his new RAF service record states, " e hasflown most types of aircraft except single seaters." He was injured in a flying accident on 8 June 1918.

Post-war

Ogilvie resigned from the Air Board in 1919, being placed on the RAF unemployed list on 10 March. He then worked as a consulting aeronautical engineer under the name "Ogilvie and Partners", which in 1919 became the

Limited company In a limited company, the Legal liability, liability of members or subscribers of the company is limited to what they have invested or guaranteed to the company. Limited companies may be limited by Share (finance), shares or by guarantee. In a c ...

"Ogilvie and Partners Ltd.", of which he was "Permanent governing director and chairman". He subsequently moved to Australia for some years.

Personal life

In September 1934 he married Angela Le Cren, née Newbold (1886–1958) in

East Grinstead East Grinstead () is a town in West Sussex, England, near the East Sussex, Surrey, and Kent borders, south of London, northeast of Brighton, and northeast of the county town of Chichester. Situated in the northeast corner of the county, bord ...

Sussex Sussex (Help:IPA/English, /ˈsʌsɪks/; from the Old English ''Sūþseaxe''; lit. 'South Saxons'; 'Sussex') is an area within South East England that was historically a kingdom of Sussex, kingdom and, later, a Historic counties of England, ...

. Her sister was the statistician and epidemiologist Ethel Newbold and her brother was rugby player and chemist Charles Joseph Newbold. Ogilvie died, aged 80, on 18 June 1962 at his home in Ringwood, Hampshire.

Honours and awards

*12 May 1917 – Acting Wing-Commander Alec Ogilvie RNAS was mentioned in dispatches. *1 January 1918 – Wing-Commander Alec Ogilvie, RNAS, head of aeroplane design section, Air Board technical section, is appointed

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

. *1 January 1919 – Lieut-Col Alec Ogilvie, OBE is appointed

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

in recognition for valuable service rendered in connection with the war.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ogilvie, Alec People educated at Rugby School Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge English aviators Commanders of the Order of the British Empire British World War I pilots Royal Naval Air Service aviators Royal Navy officers Royal Air Force officers Royal Air Force personnel of World War I 1882 births 1962 deaths People from Marylebone