Ernest Oscar Tips (born 2 October 1893 in Tielrode, died 10 March 1978 in

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

) was a Belgian aircraft designer, who co-founded the

Fairey Aviation Company The Fairey Aviation Company Limited was a British aircraft manufacturer of the first half of the 20th century based in Hayes in Middlesex and Heaton Chapel and RAF Ringway in Cheshire that designed important military aircraft, including the ...

in 1915 and its Belgian subsidiary Avions Fairey in 1931.

Biography

Early days

Born in Tielrode near Temse in 1893, the youngest of 13 children. His family was active in building mechanical systems such as bicycles. He studied at the Institut St Willebrord, but moved to Brussels at 14 years old to live with his brother after his father had died. E.O. Tips was already building aircraft ("avion Canard") in 1908, with his brother Maurice. In 1909, they had built a biplane with a rotor. Together, they acquired the licence of the

Gnome A gnome () is a mythological creature and diminutive spirit in Renaissance magic and alchemy, introduced by Paracelsus in the 16th century and widely adopted by authors, including those of modern fantasy literature. They are typically depict ...

engine for Belgium and the Netherlands. He fled Belgium at the outbreak of

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 ...

, arriving in England via the (neutral) Netherlands. He learned aeronautical engineering at

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 was the first employee of the newly established

that he cofounded in Hayes, Middlesex. In 1917, he released the ship-borne

Campania Campania is an administrative Regions of Italy, region of Italy located in Southern Italy; most of it is in the south-western portion of the Italian Peninsula (with the Tyrrhenian Sea to its west), but it also includes the small Phlegraean Islan ...

. He was a close friend to Dick Fairey and the Fairey family. He gained British pilot's license RAC-UK 5904 on May 6, 1918.

Avions Fairey

In 1931, he returned to Belgium to create Fairey's Belgian subsidiary

Avions Fairey Avions Fairey was the Belgian-based subsidiary of the British Fairey Aviation that built aircraft for the Belgian government. It subsequently separated from the UK parent and became SONACA. History In the late 1920s, the ''Aéronautique Mil ...

at the

Gosselies Gosselies (; ) is a town of Wallonia and a district of the municipality of Charleroi, located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowl ...

airfield. Avions Fairey stands at the cornerstone of Belgium's development of its modern aeronautic industry, the government of Belgium had to negotiate with its UK counterpart to develop the Fairey operations in the flat land. Avions Fairey was created in September 1931 (or 1928) when its UK headquarters sold 25 Firefly II to the Belgian army. Fernand Jacquet joined the company. In 1933, he assembled the first Tipsy S, powered by a Douglas Sprite 16HP. 19 units of the following model, the S2, were sold. The Tipsy M was a hit and its conception was close to those of modern fighters. Approaching

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, E.O. Tips organized the company's evacuation to the UK through

Saint-Nazaire Saint-Nazaire (; ; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Loire-Atlantique Departments of France, department in western France, in traditional Brittany. The town has a major harbour on the right bank of the Loire estuary, near the Atlantic Oc ...

, France. Tips lost the company's supply at sea, but managed to reach the UK where he held a managing position (Chief Experimental Engineer and Chief Research Engineer of the new helicopter department) at Fairey Aviation. When he returned to Gosselies after the war, the airfield and its buildings had been destroyed. By 1946, E.O. Tips and the team completed the reconstruction of the Gosselies Fairey airfield. After the war, Tips' two sons joined the company. In 1946, they designed the

Tipsy Junior The Avions Fairey Junior, also known as the Tipsy Junior was a single-seat light aircraft built in Belgium following World War II. Development The Junior was one of a series of light aircraft designed by and named after Ernest Oscar Tips, E.O.Tip ...

. E.O. Tips he designed the Tipsy Belfair, which held the record for longest distance flight in 1950 (945 km for a -500 kg aircraft) and 1955 (2632 km, same category). In 1953, Avions Fairey received an order of 256 fuselages for the Dutch and Belgian Air Force (as part of the industrial "hunter Program"). In 1955, he became affiliated with the Vieilles Tiges de Belgique. In 1957, E.O. Tips launched his last aircraft model, the Tipsy Nipper, a light one-seat aircraft that E.O. Tips compared to the "Volkswagen of planes". 62 Tipsy Nipper were produced before E.O. Tips sold the engineering rights when he retired in March 1960.

Vieilles Tiges de Belgique

From 1968 to 1975, he managed Vieilles Tiges de Belgique (vice-President from 1969 to 1972). He died in his home on 10 March 1978.

Designs

* Tipsy S *

Tipsy B The Tipsy B was a small sports two-seat monoplane designed by Ernest Oscar Tips, and built in both Belgium and the UK. A total of 42 was built, and a few are still flying. Design and development Avions Fairey, the Fairey Aviation Company's Bel ...

* Tipsy M *

Tipsy Belfair The Avions Fairey Belfair, also known as the Tipsy Belfair after its designer, Ernest Oscar Tips, was a two-seat light aircraft built in Belgium following World War II. Design and development The Belfair was based on the Tipsy B built before ...

Tipsy Nipper The Tipsy Nipper T.66 is an aerobatic light aircraft, developed in 1952 by Ernest Oscar Tips of Avions Fairey at Gosselies in Belgium. It was designed to be easy to fly, cheap to buy and cheap to maintain. It was designed for both factory prod ...

Places named after him

* (''street'') Rue Ernest-Oscar Tips,

Charleroi Charleroi (, , ; ) is a city and a municipality of Wallonia, located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. It is the largest city in both Hainaut and Wallonia. The city is situated in the valley of the Sambre, in the south-west of Belgium, not ...

, Belgium

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tips, Ernest Oscar 1893 births Belgian aerospace engineers People from Temse 1978 deaths 20th-century Belgian engineers