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Sir Oliver Edwin Simmonds,
FRAeS 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 ...
(22 November 1897 – 26 July 1985) was a British
aviation Aviation includes the activities surrounding mechanical flight and the aircraft industry. ''Aircraft'' include fixed-wing and rotary-wing types, morphable wings, wing-less lifting bodies, as well as lighter-than-air aircraft such as h ...
pioneer, aircraft engineer and Conservative Party politician. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Birmingham Duddeston from 1931 to 1945.


Early life

Simmonds was born on 22 November 1897 in
King's Lynn King's Lynn, known until 1537 as Bishop's Lynn and colloquially as Lynn, is a port and market town in the borough of King's Lynn and West Norfolk in the county of Norfolk, England. It is north-east of Peterborough, north-north-east of Cambridg ...
,
Norfolk Norfolk ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and eas ...
, the elder son of the Rev Frederick Simmonds, a lawyer by training and a
Congregational Congregationalism (also Congregational Churches or Congregationalist Churches) is a Reformed Christianity, Reformed Christian (Calvinist) tradition of Protestant Christianity in which churches practice Congregationalist polity, congregational ...
Minister by avocation. Simmonds was educated at Taunton in Somerset. In early 1916, he volunteered to join the
Royal Flying Corps The Royal Flying Corps (RFC) was the air arm of the British Army before and during the First World War until it merged with the Royal Naval Air Service on 1 April 1918 to form the Royal Air Force. During the early part of the war, the RFC sup ...
as a pilot. He was trained at Weybridge, Surrey. He received his wings and in March 1916 joined 25 Squadron in France. He piloted a Royal Aircraft Factory F.E.2b, a light bomber and observation aircraft. Arthur Tedder, later Deputy Supreme Commander of all Allied Forces in Northern Europe in 1944/45, was also a member of 25 Squadron at that time. Simmonds went up to Cambridge in 1919. He switched from reading History to Engineering, earning his degree in 1922. While at Cambridge he joined the Cambridge University Aeronautical Society.


Aviation career

Simmonds joined the Royal Aircraft Factory in 1922. During his time at Farnborough, Simmonds wrote a joint paper on the results of a test in the Wind Tunnel. Simmonds was then transferred to the Air Worthiness Dept, which was responsible for approving and granting a British
Certificate of Airworthiness A standard certificate of airworthiness is a permit for commercial passenger or cargo operation, issued for an aircraft by the civil aviation authority in the state/nation in which the aircraft is registered. For other aircraft such as crop-spray ...
to each newly designed aircraft. This position required him to visit the design offices of all the British Aircraft designers, where he saw first hand all the new design ideas that were evolving. After the US won the Schneider Trophy in 1924 at a speed of about 240 mph, the British
Air Ministry The Air Ministry was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom with the responsibility of managing the affairs of the Royal Air Force and civil aviation that existed from 1918 to 1964. It was under the political authority of the ...
called for a new monoplane challenger that could achieve 300 mph in level flight. In a search for new talent, R.J. Mitchell at
Supermarine Supermarine was a British aircraft manufacturer. It is most famous for producing the Spitfire fighter plane during World War II. The company built a range of seaplanes and flying boats, winning the Schneider Trophy for seaplanes with three cons ...
interviewed Simmonds and invited him to join the design team. In the 1960s, while talking to another former Schneider team member, he was reminded how the fuselage diameter of the Supermarine S.5 was determined. Simmonds had asked one of the team to put a piece of
plywood Plywood is a composite material manufactured from thin layers, or "plies", of wood veneer that have been stacked and glued together. It is an engineered wood from the family of manufactured boards, which include plywood, medium-density fibreboa ...
vertically against the wall. He then sat on the floor with his back to the plywood, while a colleague drew a line around his body. This became the fuselage diameter. Simmonds was a small man physically, which is the reason that the RAF pilots chosen to fly the aircraft were of a similar stature. This Supermarine series of aircraft won the Schneider Trophy in 1927, 1929 and 1931, thereby winning it outright. The last of the Series, the
Supermarine S6B The Supermarine S.6B is a British racing seaplane developed by R.J. Mitchell for the Supermarine company to take part in the Schneider Trophy competition of 1931. The S.6B marked the culmination of Mitchell's quest to "perfect the design of th ...
was the first aircraft to exceed 400 mph in level flight, over the
Solent The Solent ( ) is a strait between the Isle of Wight and mainland Great Britain; the major historic ports of Southampton and Portsmouth lie inland of its shores. It is about long and varies in width between , although the Hurst Spit whi ...
, on 23 September 1931. During Simmonds time with Supermarine, he had begun, in his spare time, working on the design of a new light aircraft, which he later named the Spartan. It had interchangeable wings and interchangeable tail surfaces, a particular advantage in export markets. This resulted in a disagreement between Simmonds and Supermarine and the former announced in July 1928 that he was leaving Supermarine to form his own company to produce the Spartan. In 1928 Simmonds formed two companies:
Simmonds Aircraft Spartan Aircraft Limited was a British aircraft manufacturer from 1930 to 1935. It was formed by reinvestment in Simmonds Aircraft which had suffered financially. History In 1928 Oliver Simmonds designed and built a prototype aircraft, the ...
, Ltd.— Capital £20,000, in £1 shares. With the purpose of acquiring interests in patents, licences, concessions and the like held by the Simmonds Interchangeable Wing Co., Ltd., and to acquire from O. E. Simmonds licences relating to the building, manufacture, design and sale of the Simmonds Spartan Light Aeroplane. The company produced a significant number of Spartans and also de Havilland Moths under license. In 1931, as the US depression began to be felt in Britain, Simmonds sold his interest in the company to
Whitehall Securities Whitehall Securities Corporation Ltd was formed in 1907 by Weetman Pearson MP and his son Harold Pearson MP. Sir Weetman was nominated as President as well as being a founding director. The company was capitalised at £1,000,000. On 12 December 1 ...
Corporation. When the first Simmonds Spartan was rolled out in 1929, Simmonds was able to announce the company had orders for 54 Spartans and had a contract to produce the Blackburn ?


Parliament

In 1931 Simmonds entered politics as a
Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...
. He was elected at the 1931 general election as the MP for Birmingham Duddeston. He held the seat until the 1945 general election. In the House Simmonds spoke on aviation, workers' conditions and Civil Defense. With other MP's he visited Spain during the Civil War there, to study the effects of aerial warfare on the civil population. On his return to Britain he formed the Air Raid Precautions Institute. This institute issued recommendations for the protection of the civilian population in the event of war.


Simmonds Aerocessories

In 1931, following the sale of Simmonds Aircraft, Simmonds attended the annual Air Show at
Le Bourget Le Bourget () is a commune in the northeastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris. The commune features Le Bourget Airport, which in turn hosts the Musée de l'Air et de l'Espace (Air and Space Museum). A very ...
, which included a large display of aircraft equipment suppliers. One of these was the Coursey Company which made push pull controls for use in operating aircraft control surfaces. Simmonds did an instant market survey and realized this product could end the use of bell cranks and levers to control aircraft flight surfaces. He negotiated an exclusive license to produce and sell these devices in all the world except France. Returning to Britain he set about forming Simmonds Aerocessories Ltd, entering into a manufacturing arrangement with Accles and Shelvoke in Birmingham and establishing a sales and administrative office in London. He soon had many customers. In about 1933, Simmonds travelled to the US and followed up with some of the US contacts he had made back in the Schneider Trophy days. One of these contacts showed him a new nut, which was unique in that it had a red fibre insert, which caused the nut to retain its position on a bolt, irrespective of vibration. Simmonds realized this nut had the potential to do away with cotter pins. The holder of the worldwide patents was a Swede named Renefelt. Simmonds obtained an exclusive license for the rest of the world, with the exception of the US and Sweden. The two licenses for the Push Pull Control and the Elastic Stop Nut became the basis of the company's early rapid growth. In the second half of the 1930s Simmonds established his own manufacturing facilities in the UK, France, Poland, the US and Australia. Offices were also established in Canada. Following the outbreak of WW II, manufacturing facilities were rapidly expanded to meet growing demand. Large manufacturing facilities were then acquired at
Treforest Treforest () is a village in the south-east of Pontypridd, in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. It is situated in the Treforest electoral ward, along with the village of Glyntaff (or Glyn-Taf). It is part of the Pontypridd Town ...
, near Cardiff in Glamorganshire. The company also later took over the space owned by the Coty Cosmetics Company, also on the Great West Rd and further space in Sunderland. In the late 1930s Simmonds had become the exclusive British and European licensee for the aircraft fuel gauging systems produced by the Liquidometer Corporation of New York, USA. As part of the company's entry into this market segment, Simmonds had hired a refugee Polish engineer. Between the two of them they conceived how to measure fuel electrically thereby providing much greater accuracy, irrespective of an aircraft's flight attitude. They went on to patent and produce such a system, called Pacitor. The first British aircraft to use this system was the country's first jet fighter, the
Gloster Meteor The Gloster Meteor was the first British jet fighter and the Allies' only jet aircraft to engage in combat operations during the Second World War. The Meteor's development was heavily reliant on its ground-breaking turbojet engines, pioneere ...
, which first saw combat in 1944, chasing and shooting down many German V-1 missiles. These Pacitor fuel gauging systems were licensed to the US Simmonds company and became the basis of that company evolving after WW II from producing mainly mechanical products to moving first to electro-mechanical products and finally in the 1960s to mostly electronic products. After the end of WW II new orders for all military aircraft came to an abrupt halt. Simmonds consolidated all its reduced operations at its Treforest factory, near Cardiff. In 1947 British Overseas Airways (B.O.A.C.) took over the former Simmonds works on the Great West Road, London. In 1947 the Electric and General Industrial Trusts, Ltd., of which Mr. C. W. Hayward was chairman, bought the entire share capital of Simmonds Aerocessories, Ltd., and Simmonds Products, Ltd. Sir Oliver retained his interests in Simmonds Development Corp., Ltd, which held many of the Simmonds patents. Sir Oliver retained his interests in the US, Canadian and French businesses. This last was also sold in the late 1940s to a French Company. Simmonds Aerocessories was the original manufacturer of surform tools. On selling his Simmonds / Spartan companies Oliver Simmonds established Simmonds Aerocessories. As the company grew it expanded its interests to producing aircraft controls and a fuel measurement tool that became a standard in the industry. Under his auspices the company grew rapidly spreading across all of Europe as a multi-national and then worldwide into Canada, the US and Australia. In 1941 Simmonds Aerocessories built a one-off target drone the OQ-11 which was tested by the
USAAF The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...
.


Bahamas

In 1948, Simmonds sold his British-based interests and moved to
The Bahamas The Bahamas, officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic and island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the Atlantic Ocean. It contains 97 per cent of the archipelago's land area and 88 per cent of ...
. He started a construction company and undertook the development of the Balmoral Beach Club, a luxurious hotel on Cable Beach. In its celebrity heyday, the hotel cultivated a relaxed, sophisticated atmosphere and hosted notable guests such as
The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...
who were here to film the movie ''
Help! ''Help!'' is the fifth studio album by the English Rock music, rock band the Beatles and the soundtrack to their Help! (film), film of the same name. It was released on 6 August 1965 by Parlophone. Seven of the fourteen songs, including the sin ...
''. Other luminary Balmoral guests included
Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 until Resignation of Richard Nixon, his resignation in 1974. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican ...
and the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, the former King
Edward VIII Edward VIII (Edward Albert Christian George Andrew Patrick David; 23 June 1894 – 28 May 1972), later known as the Duke of Windsor, was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Empire, and Emperor of India, from 20 January ...
and Wallis Simpson. Simmonds helped to stabilize the hotel industry by becoming the President of The Hotel Employer Association and then the President of The Friends of The Bahamas. Sir Oliver built 'High Tor' with its 18-foot gracious high ceiling rooms it was designed with care and with an eye to detail still apparent to this day. Sir Oliver imported English oak panels for doors and an 18th-century carved wooden fireplace as well as many other decorative items. He was an inventor and engineer, there are still features existing today that were considered innovative when he designed them such as the floating spiral staircase and the enormous windows that slide down to disappear completely into the floor. He lived in High Tor until 1963 and he continued to live in
Lyford Cay Lyford Cay is a private gated community located on the western tip of New Providence island in the Bahamas. The former cay that lent its name to the community is named after Captain William Lyford Jr., a mariner of note in Colonial and Revolutio ...
until 1977.


4CYTE (foresight)

Sir Oliver invented a game club called 4CYTE (pronounced "foresight"). Each player has an identical set of letters and a six-by-six grid. Players alternate calling letters and placing them on their respective grids. Each player may hold one letter as a stand by. When the grids are filled, the players score the six rows, six column, and two diagonals. When a player has spelled a word that is at least three letters long that player receives points for that scoring line. Longer words are worth more points. The player with the most points wins. In the solitaire version, a player selects thirty six letters and moves them around at will to score a personal best. The President of the club was Sir Oliver Simmonds, and he was the first 4CYTE champion. The International 4 CYTE Champions' Club is an unincorporated association owned by the International Parlour Games Corporation Limited, Nassau, Bahamas.


References


Notes

the land sits on 465 acres that is situated on Cable Beach originally brigadier general Robert Cunningham Cunningham family owner of the estate from the 1813 to date Anthony Cunningham is the executor administrator


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Simmonds, Oliver 1897 births 1985 deaths English aviators 20th-century English businesspeople English aerospace engineers Royal Flying Corps officers Fellows of the Royal Aeronautical Society Knights Bachelor Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1931–1935 UK MPs 1935–1945 British emigrants to the Bahamas 20th-century British engineers Immigrants to former British colonies and protectorates in the Americas