G. Tilghman Richards
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George Tilghman Richards (1883–1960), usually known as G. Tilghman Richards, was a British aeronautical engineer, mechanical engineer, and
Science Museum, London The Science Museum is a major museum on Exhibition Road in South Kensington, London. It was founded in 1857 and is one of the city's major tourist attractions, attracting 3.3 million visitors annually in 2019. Like other publicly funded ...
curator, best known for his work on the Lee-Richards annular aeroplanes. Richards was a Fellow 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 ...
(FRAeS), Member of the Institute of Aeronautical Engineers (MIAeE), Member of the
Institution of Mechanical Engineers The Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE) is an independent professional association and learned society headquartered in London, United Kingdom, that represents mechanical engineers and the engineering profession. With over 110,000 member ...
(M.I. Mech.E.), and a chartered mechanical engineer.''Flight'' 20 December 192
Page 1067
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Early life

George Tilghman Richards was born in Altrincham, Cheshire on 18 August 1883, the only son of George Richards, originally from
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, USA, and Amy Florence Richards (nee Ford-Smith). Richards received his engineering training at his father's firms, George Richards and Company, and Tilghmans Patent Sand Blast Company (the two companies merged in 1896 but retained separate premises), and Smith and Coventry Ltd. All three companies manufactured machine tools and industrial machinery. Between 1904 and 1908, Richards gained further professional engineering experience, first as a leading draughtsman and automotive engineer working for
Rolls-Royce Rolls-Royce (always hyphenated) may refer to: * Rolls-Royce Limited, a British manufacturer of cars and later aero engines, founded in 1906, now defunct Automobiles * Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, the current car manufacturing company incorporated in ...
from 1904 to 1906 and from 1906 to 1908 as a designer at Belsize. By 1908, Richards had gained sufficient experience to set up as an independent consultant in
Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...
, a position he held until 1911.


Lee-Richards annular aeroplanes

In 1911, Cedric Lee approached Richards to work on an annular biplane which he had acquired half-finished from British inventor J.G.A. Kitchen (1869-1940). Together, Lee and Richards finished the aeroplane, fitting a
Gnome Omega The Gnome 7 Omega (commonly called the Gnome 50 hp) is a French seven-cylinder, air-cooled aero engine produced by Gnome et Rhône. It was shown at the Paris Aero Salon held in December 1908 and was first flown in 1909. It was the world's ...
engine in the front. Between 1911 and the outbreak of war in August 1914, Richards was engaged in original research and experimental aviation, almost entirely relating to this machine and other variations, known variously as the Kitchen annular biplane and the Lee-Richards annular biplane and referred to as ''the flying doughnut'' due to its unusual circular wing shape. Flight tests in 1911 were disappointing and that Autumn the biplane was destroyed on the ground by high winds, when its hangar collapsed.Jarrett (1976)Lewis, P.; ''British Aircraft 1809-1914'', Putnam, 1962, pages 340-343. A non-flying replica later appeared in the 1965 film '' Those magnificent men in their flying machines'' and is now on display at the Newark Air Museum. Lee and Richards continued experimenting with models and Richards especially further developed the aerodynamic theory of the annular wing. They developed a form having a circular lower wing with an auxiliary plane above the front half of the main wing. A full-size manned glider proved successful. Model tests of a new design at the National Physics Laboratory gave promising results, confirming that an annular monoplane would be aerodynamically stable and have benign stalling characteristics. In 1912, the two continued to work on and test the aircraft at Shoreham Aerodrome (now Brighton City Airport). From 1913 to 1914, three monoplanes were built and flown. All were stable in flight and successively showed improved handling. Richards continuef to promote the benefits of the annular wing throughout his life, but without success. While working for Beardmore in 1916 he patented an improved method of construction.


First World War and aftermath

When war broke out, Richards was commissioned into 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 ...
(RNAS) as an inspector of Naval aircraft. He was sent to Beardmore, who were manufacturing other companies' designs under licence. In January 1916, when Beardmore’s design office was created, Richards was allowed to resign his commission to become assistant manager and designer. From 1916 to 1917 he produced their first in-house aircraft designs, achieving his greatest success with the W.B.III, a navalised version of the
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which Beardmore were manufacturing under license. Other Beardmore types which he designed included the W.B.1, W.B.2, W.B.IV, W.B.V and W.B.VI but these only got as far as the prototype stage and it was only the W.B.III which made it into production. After the war there was little demand for aircraft but Richards continued to work in the field of aviation until 1924, first at Beardmore and then from 1921 at Martinsyde, Woking, where he was employed as general manager as they were changing over from aircraft manufacture to motor cycles.''Flight'', 22 January 1954
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Science Museum

In 1924, Richards began working for the
Science Museum, London The Science Museum is a major museum on Exhibition Road in South Kensington, London. It was founded in 1857 and is one of the city's major tourist attractions, attracting 3.3 million visitors annually in 2019. Like other publicly funded ...
as a curator and lecturer, specialising in aeronautics and later typewriters. By 1939, Richards was senior lecturer in Engineering and Industry at the museum and he remained there until his retirement in 1954. In 1937, a 1:10 scale model of a Lee-Richards annular-type monoplane was commissioned by the
Science Museum A science museum is a museum devoted primarily to science. Older science museums tended to concentrate on static displays of objects related to natural history, paleontology, geology, Industry (manufacturing), industry and Outline of industrial ...
workshop and put on display. In 1938, Richards wrote a Science Museum handbook ''Handbook of the collection illustrating typewriters'', later reissued as ''The History and Development of Typewriters''. In 1954, he retired from the Science Museum.


Society Membership

Richards was a member of the British Gliding Association and the Newcomen Society and was a founding member of the Manchester Aero Club, established in 1908. Richards was also a chartered member of a number of professional engineering organisations. He was a Fellow 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 ...
(FRAeS), Member of the Institute of Aeronautical Engineers (MIAeE), Member of the
Institution of Mechanical Engineers The Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE) is an independent professional association and learned society headquartered in London, United Kingdom, that represents mechanical engineers and the engineering profession. With over 110,000 member ...
(M.I. Mech.E.), and a chartered mechanical engineer.


Death and legacy

Richards died on 22 June 1960 at
Hove Hove ( ) is a seaside resort in East Sussex, England. Alongside Brighton, it is one of the two main parts of the city of Brighton and Hove. Originally a fishing village surrounded by open farmland, it grew rapidly in the 19th century in respon ...
, Sussex at the age of 76. Papers by Cedric Lee and Richards relating to their work on the Lee-Richards Annular Monoplane between 1911 and 1914 are held by the National Aerospace Library at 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 ...
.


References


Notes


Bibliography

** Jarrett, P.; "Circles in the Sky", ''Aeroplane Monthly'', (Part I) September 1976 Pages 493-499, (Part II) October 1976 Pages 526-531, 553. {{DEFAULTSORT:Richards, G. Tilghman 1883 births People from Altrincham Aviation pioneers Fellows of the Royal Aeronautical Society 1960 deaths People associated with the Science Museum, London Engineers from Manchester