David Keith-Lucas (25 March 1911 – 6 April 1997) was a British aeronautical engineer.

Early life

David Keith-Lucas was one of the sons of Alys Hubbard Lucas and Keith Lucas, who invented the first aeronautical compass. After the death of Keith Lucas in 1916, his wife Alys changed the family name, and, as Alys Keith-Lucas, edited a short book giving his background together with reminiscences of him and a list of his publications. David Keith-Lucas was educated at

Gresham's School Gresham's School is a private school (English fee-charging boarding and day school) in Holt, Norfolk, England, one of the top thirty International Baccalaureate schools in England. The school was founded in 1555 by Sir John Gresham as a f ...

, Holt, and at

Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge Gonville and Caius College, commonly known as Caius ( ), is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1348 by Edmund Gonville, it is the fourth-oldest of the University of Cambridge's 31 colleges and ...

, where he read engineering.

Career

David Keith-Lucas was an apprentice and engineer with C.A. Parsons and Co. from 1933 to 1940, then moved to the aerodynamics office of Short Brothers, Rochester, famous for their flying boats, becoming their chief

aerodynamicist Aerodynamics () is the study of the motion of air, particularly when affected by a solid object, such as an airplane wing. It involves topics covered in the field of fluid dynamics and its subfield of gas dynamics, and is an important domain of ...

in 1944. From 1945 to 1965 he was with

Short Brothers Short Brothers plc, usually referred to as Shorts or Short, is an aerospace company based in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Shorts was founded in 1908 in London, and was the first company in the world to make production aeroplanes. It was particu ...

and Harland Ltd in Belfast, holding the posts of chief designer, technical director and research director. His work included research on swept-wings which culminated in the Short SB-5 research aircraft. Other projects included the

Short Belfast The Short Belfast (or Shorts Belfast)Mondey 1981, p. 228. is a heavy lift turboprop Cargo aircraft, freighter that was built by British manufacturer Short Brothers at Belfast. Only 10 aircraft were constructed, all of which entered service with ...

heavy freighter, the

Short Skyvan The Short SC.7 Skyvan (nicknamed the "Flying Shoebox") is a British 19-seat twin-turboprop aircraft first flown in 1963, that was manufactured by Short Brothers of Belfast, Northern Ireland. Featuring a basic rugged design and STOL capabilities ...

, and the SD-330 and SD-360 freight-commuter series. The Short SB.1 was a shoulder-wing, cantilever, tailless monoplane glider designed by David Keith-Lucas and Professor Geoffrey T.R. Hill and built by Shorts as a private research venture to test the concept of the aero-isoclinic wing; it was the first aircraft to incorporate this feature. After initial tests, at the end of which the SB.1 crash-landed as a result of problems while being towed behind the

Short Sturgeon The Short Sturgeon was a planned British carrier-borne reconnaissance bomber whose development began during Second World War with the S.6/43 requirement for a high-performance torpedo bomber, which was later refined into the S.11/43 requireme ...

, the SB.1 was further developed into the Short SB.4 Sherpa, powered by two

Blackburn Blackburn () is an industrial town and the administrative centre of the Blackburn with Darwen borough in Lancashire, England. The town is north of the West Pennine Moors on the southern edge of the River Ribble, Ribble Valley, east of Preston ...

Turbomeca Palas The Turbomeca Palas is a diminutive centrifugal force, centrifugal flow turbojet engine used to power light aircraft. An enlargement of the Turbomeca Piméné, the Palas was designed in 1950 by the French manufacturer Turbomeca, Société Turbo ...

turbojet engines. In 1951, Keith-Lucas designed the Short SB-6 Seamew as a lightweight anti-submarine platform. While in Belfast, he served on the Senate of the

Queen's University, Belfast The Queen's University of Belfast, commonly known as Queen's University Belfast (; abbreviated Queen's or QUB), is a public research university in Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom. The university received its charter in 1845 as part of ...

. In 1965 he was appointed Professor of Aircraft Design at the College of Aeronautics, Cranfield, later the

Cranfield Institute of Technology Cranfield University is a postgraduate-only public research university in the United Kingdom that specialises in science, engineering, design, technology and management. Cranfield was founded as the College of Aeronautics (CoA) in 1946. Throug ...

, and welded together the departments of Aerodynamics, Aircraft Design and Flight into a new College of Aeronautics. In 1972, he became its Professor of Aeronautics and also Chairman of the College, which now forms part of

Cranfield University Cranfield University is a postgraduate-only public research university in the United Kingdom that specialises in science, engineering, design, technology and management. Cranfield was founded as the College of Aeronautics (CoA) in 1946. Throug ...

. On retirement in 1976, he was appointed Professor Emeritus and awarded an Honorary Doctorate.

Career in brief

* Chief Aerodynamicist, Short Bros 1940–49 * Chief Designer, Short Bros & Harland Ltd. 1949–58 * Technical Director, Short Bros & Harland Ltd. 1958–64 * Director of Research Short Bros & Harland Ltd. 1964–65 * Member of the Senate of the Queen's University, Belfast, 1960–65 * Professor of Aircraft Design, Cranfield Institute of Technology 1965–72 * Professor of Aeronautics, College of Aeronautics, 1972–76 * Chairman, College of Aeronautics 1972–76

Publications

* ''The Shape of Wings to Come'' (1952)

Honours

* President of the

Royal Aeronautical Society The Royal Aeronautical Society, also known as the RAeS, is a British multi-disciplinary professional institution dedicated to the global aerospace community. Founded in 1866, it is the oldest Aeronautics, aeronautical society in the world. Memb ...

, 1968 *

Doctor of Science A Doctor of Science (; most commonly abbreviated DSc or ScD) is a science doctorate awarded in a number of countries throughout the world. Africa Algeria and Morocco In Algeria, Morocco, Libya and Tunisia, all universities accredited by the s ...

, 1968 * 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 ...

, 1973 * Honorary Doctorate,

, 1976 * Emeritus Professor, College of Aeronautics, 1976 * Gold Medal of the

, 1975

Other appointments

* Member of the Council of the Air Registration Board, 1967–1972 * Chairman of the Airworthiness Requirements Board, 1972–1982 * Member of the

Roskill Commission The Roskill Commission (formally the Commission on the Third London Airport) was a UK government commission charged with looking into finding a site for a new airport for London. Chaired by High Court judge Sir Eustace Roskill, it sat from 1968 ...

for the Third London Airport, 1968–1970.

Family

In 1942, Keith-Lucas married firstly Dorothy de Bauduy Robertson, and they had two sons and one daughter. In 1979, he and his wife visited Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, where 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 ...

had made their flights. His wife was killed there in a road accident, and Keith-Lucas himself was seriously injured. In 1981, he married secondly Phyllis Everard Whurr. Keith-Lucas's brother, Professor Bryan Keith-Lucas, a political scientist and Master of

Darwin College, Kent Darwin College is the fourth-oldest college of the University of Kent, an English higher education institution in the United Kingdom. It was opened in 1970. Namesake After much debate, the college was named after Charles Darwin, the biologis ...

, died in 1996. He was also the brother of Social Work Professor Alan Keith-Lucas. Keith-Lucas is the grandfather of BBC weather girl Sarah Keith-Lucas, who did a "Weatherworld
programme
on her grandfather's work on the Short SB.4, the prototype of which is now with the Ulster Aviation Society.

Notes

Sources

Obituary of Professor David Keith-Lucas
in

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

, 29 May 1997
The Short SB4 at Probertencyclopaedia.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Keith-Lucas, David 1911 births 1997 deaths Alumni of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge Academics of Cranfield University People educated at Gresham's School Commanders of the Order of the British Empire English aerospace engineers Fellows of the Royal Aeronautical Society 20th-century British inventors