Nicholas Comper (29 April 1897 – 17 June 1939) was an English aviator and aircraft designer, whose most notable success was the 1930s Comper Swift monoplane racer.

Early life

Nicholas Comper was born in

Lambeth Lambeth () is a district in South London, England, in the London Borough of Lambeth, historically in the County of Surrey. It is situated south of Charing Cross. The population of the London Borough of Lambeth was 303,086 in 2011. The area expe ...

, London, England, the son of church architect Sir

John Ninian Comper Sir John Ninian Comper (10 June 1864 – 22 December 1960) was a Scottish architect; one of the last of the great Gothic Revival architects. His work almost entirely focused on the design, restoration and embellishment of churches, and the des ...

. After leaving Dulwich College, he joined the

Aircraft Manufacturing Company The Aircraft Manufacturing Company Limited (Airco) was an early British aircraft manufacturer. Established during 1912, it grew rapidly during the First World War, referring to itself as the largest aircraft company in the world by 1918. Air ...

(Airco) as an apprentice. He left the company in 1915 to join the

Royal Flying Corps "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colors = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = , decorations ...

, and was trained to fly at Castle Bromwich Aerodrome. He joined No. 9 Squadron RFC, and was posted to Morlancourt in France, flying B.E.2c aircraft on reconnaissance missions.Nick Comper official websiteRiding (2003) After World War I, Comper stayed in what was then the Royal Air Force, and in 1920 he studied aerodynamics at Jesus College, Cambridge. He spent time with RAE Farnborough, and in October 1922 he was posted to RAF Cranwell to train engineering officers. One of his pupils was Frank Whittle, the jet engine pioneer. In 1923, Comper and some of his pupils and other members of staff formed the Cranwell Light Aeroplane Club. The Club went on to build four aircraft designed by Comper, named Cranwell C.L.A.2, C.L.A.3, and two examples of the C.L.A.4A.Jackson (1974), pp.30, 294-296, 333, 391-392 In late 1926 he was posted to the Marine Aircraft Experimental Establishment (MAEE) Felixstowe to work on flying boats and seaplanes. In March 1929, having reached the rank of

Flight Lieutenant Flight lieutenant is a junior commissioned rank in air forces that use the Royal Air Force (RAF) system of ranks, especially in Commonwealth countries. It has a NATO rank code of OF-2. Flight lieutenant is abbreviated as Flt Lt in the India ...

, he resigned his commission to pursue aircraft design ambitions.

Civilian life

In April 1929, he formed the Comper Aircraft Company Ltd, based at Hooton Park Aerodrome near Ellesmere Port in Cheshire. His first design to be built at Hooton was his most successful, the Comper Swift, a single-seat sporting monoplane. In March 1933, the company moved to Heston Aerodrome near London. The company ceased trading in August 1934. In August 1934, Comper joined with Francis R Walker to form a design consultancy named Comper and Walker Ltd, based in central London. He worked on airliner projects he called ''Dominion'' and ''Commerce''. In December 1936, he renamed the company Comper Aeroplanes Limited, to develop those concepts. In 1938, working from his home in Walton-on-Thames, Comper designed a new training aircraft named the Comper Scamp. The single-seat trial version named the CF.1 Fly was built by students at the Chelsea College of Aeronautical Engineering at Brooklands Aerodrome. On 17 June 1939, in

Hythe, Kent Hythe () is a coastal market town on the edge of Romney Marsh, in the district of Folkestone and Hythe on the south coast of Kent. The word ''Hythe'' or ''Hithe'' is an Old English word meaning haven or landing place. History The town has m ...

, Comper was fatally injured in unusual circumstances. He had been a practical joker, and after he was stopped lighting fireworks in a public house, he went outside. As he bent down to light the firework, a passer-by enquired what he was doing, his reply was that he was an IRA man and was going to blow up the town hall, prompting the passer-by to knock him down. Comper hit his head on the kerb, suffered a

cerebral haemorrhage Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), also known as cerebral bleed, intraparenchymal bleed, and hemorrhagic stroke, or haemorrhagic stroke, is a sudden bleeding into the tissues of the brain, into its ventricles, or into both. It is one kind of bleed ...

and died later in hospital, aged 42. After Comper's death, the Comper CF.1 Fly was completed with RAF serial T1788 by Heston Aircraft Company, who failed to make it fly with the available engine power. Comper's collaborator on the CF.1 project, Gerard Fane, later developed the concept into a newly designed Air Observation Post (AOP) aircraft, the Fane F.1/40.Riding (2003)

Aircraft designed and flown

* 1924 -

Cranwell CLA.2 The Cranwell CLA.2 was a single-engined two-seat biplane built by staff and students of RAF College Cranwell as an entrant to the Lympne Two Seater Light Aeroplane Trials of 1924. It won the reliability prize. Design and development The CLA. ...

* 1925 -

Cranwell CLA.3 The Cranwell CLA.3 was a parasol winged single-engined, single-seat British aircraft built to compete in the Lympne air races of 1925. It was designed and built by an amateur group drawn from staff and pupils at the RAF College Cranwell. Thou ...

* 1926 - Cranwell CLA.4 * 1930 - Comper Swift * 1932 -

Cierva C.25 The Cierva C.25 was a British 1930s single-seat autogiro produced by Comper Aircraft Company Ltd of Hooton Park, Cheshire. Design and development The sole C.25, based on the airframe of the Comper Swift with modified tailfins and short low-moun ...

* 1933 -

Comper Mouse The Comper Mouse was a 1930s British three-seat cabin monoplane designed by Nicholas Comper, and built by the Comper Aircraft Company at Heston Aerodrome in 1933. Development The Mouse was a low-wing monoplane touring aircraft, powered by a 13 ...

* 1934 -

Comper Streak The Comper Streak was a single-engined, single-seat racing monoplane built in the UK in the mid-1930s. It was not successful as a racer and only one was produced. Development The Comper Aircraft Company's first product, the high wing single-s ...

* 1934 -

Comper Kite The Comper Kite was a single-engined, two-seat touring monoplane built in the UK, derived from the contemporary Comper Streak racer. Only one was built. Design and development The Kite was created by redesigning the single-seat Comper Streak r ...

Notes

References

*Aitken, Kenneth. February 1994. Fathers of British Aviation No.12: Nicholas Comper. Aeroplane Monthly. IPC Media *Boughton, Terence. 1963. The Story of The British Light Aeroplane. John Murray * *Meaden, Jack & Fillmore, Malcolm. (Winter 2003). The Comper Lightplanes. Air-Britain Archive (quarterly). Air-Britain. *Riding, Richard T. August&September 1978. British Pre-war Ultra-lights No.28: Comper Swift. Aeroplane Monthly. IPC Media *Riding, Richard T. 1987. Ultralights: The Early British Classics. Patrick Stephens *Riding, Richard T. March 2003. Database: Comper Swift. Aeroplane Monthly. IPC Media

External links

Nick Comper official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Comper, Nicholas English aviators English aerospace engineers Royal Air Force officers 1897 births 1939 deaths Accidental deaths in England People from Lambeth Alumni of Jesus College, Cambridge Royal Flying Corps officers British Army personnel of World War I