Duncan Menzies Soutar Simpson (23 December 1927 - 5 December 2017) was a Scottish pilot, and the former chief test pilot of

Hawker Siddeley Hawker Siddeley was a group of British manufacturing companies engaged in aircraft production. Hawker Siddeley combined the legacies of several British aircraft manufacturers, emerging through a series of mergers and acquisitions as one of onl ...

in the 1970s. He flew the first production

Harrier Harrier may refer to: Animals * Harrier (bird), several species of birds * Harrier (dog) Media * Harrier Comics, a defunct British publisher * Space Harrier, a video game series Military * Harrier jump jet, an overview of the Harrier family: ...

aircraft in December 1967, and the first two-seat Harrier in April 1969.

Early life

He was born in Edinburgh, and was educated at Merchiston Castle School there. His uncle was a test pilot for the Fairey Aviation Company.

Career

de Havilland

After leaving school in 1945 he worked for

de Havilland The de Havilland Aircraft Company Limited () was a British aviation manufacturer established in late 1920 by Geoffrey de Havilland at Stag Lane Aerodrome Edgware on the outskirts of north London. Operations were later moved to Hatfield in H ...

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...

Royal Air Force

In 1949 he joined the Royal Air Force with 6FTS and 226 OCU, and flew the Gloster Meteor VIII with 222 Squadron. In 1953 he joined the Day Fighter Development Unit at the

Central Fighter Establishment The Central Fighter Establishment was a Royal Air Force formation that dealt with the development of fighter aircraft tactics which was formed on 4 September 1944 at RAF Wittering. It also tested new fighter aircraft and equipment, and with the ...

Hawker Siddeley Aviation

He joined Hawker Siddeley in 1954. He first flew the Hawker Siddeley P.1127 in August 1962; he was the third pilot to fly the P.1127. On 27 December 1967, he was the first the fly the first production Harrier GR1 ''XV738''. On 24 April 1969 he was the first to fly the two-seat Harrier ''XW174''; six weeks later on 4 June 1969 in this aircraft, he was forced to eject at low level (100 ft), over Larkhill in Wiltshire, when the engine failed at 3,000 ft. On ejection from the aircraft he broke his neck; he needed a bone graft, and surgeons had to operate via his throat. He returned to flying nine months later, and received the Queen's Commendation for Valuable Service in the Air in the

1969 Birthday Honours The 1969 Queen's Birthday Honours were appointments to orders and decorations of the Commonwealth realms to reward and highlight citizens' good works, on the occasion of the official birthday of Queen Elizabeth II. They were announced in supplem ...

. After this incident, all Hawker aircraft were fitted with canopy severance cord to shatter the canopy before ejection occurred. He became deputy chief test pilot in 1969. He became chief test pilot in 1970. He was the first to fly the

Hawk Hawks are bird of prey, birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. They are widely distributed and are found on all continents except Antarctica. * The subfamily Accipitrinae includes goshawks, sparrowhawks, sharp-shinned hawks and others. Th ...

HS1182 prototype (''XX154'') at around 7pm on 21 August 1974,''Hawker Siddeley Aviation and Dynamics: 1960-77''
/ref> and reached 20,000 ft in a 53-minute flight. The Hawk entered service with the RAF in November 1976.

Personal life

He married in June 1958 and had two sons, and a daughter. They lived in

Guildford Guildford () is a town in west Surrey, around southwest of central London. As of the 2011 census, the town has a population of about 77,000 and is the seat of the wider Borough of Guildford, which had around inhabitants in . The name "Guildf ...

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

. He received an award in 2011 from the Honourable Company of Air Pilots. He received the OBE in the

1973 Birthday Honours The Queen's Birthday Honours 1973 were appointments in many of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. They were published on 2 June 1973 for ...

. He became a Fellow of the Society of Experimental Test Pilots. He died aged 89 in December 2017.

References

External links

''Telegraph'' obituary 14 December 2017

''Times'' obituary 10 February 2018
{{DEFAULTSORT:Simpson, Duncan 1927 births 2017 deaths Military personnel from Edinburgh Royal Air Force personnel BAE Systems Hawk De Havilland Fellows of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers Fellows of the Royal Aeronautical Society Harrier Jump Jet Hawker Siddeley Officers of the Order of the British Empire People educated at Merchiston Castle School People from Edinburgh People from Guildford Recipients of the Commendation for Valuable Service in the Air Royal Air Force officers Scottish test pilots