Richard Walter Walker (27 December 1900 – 10 April 1982) FRAeS was a British aerospace engineer, and main designer for jet aircraft of

Gloster Aircraft Company The Gloster Aircraft Company was a British aircraft manufacturer from 1917 to 1963. Founded as the Gloucestershire Aircraft Company Limited during the First World War, with the aircraft construction activities of H.H. Martyn & Co. of Chelte ...

Early life

He was born in 1900 in

Bradford Bradford is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in West Yorkshire, England. It became a municipal borough in 1847, received a city charter in 1897 and, since the Local Government Act 1972, 1974 reform, the city status in the United Kingdo ...

Career

After an apprenticeship in Bradford he joined the RAF in 1918. In 1919 he went to Bradford Technical College for four years. After a brief period at Blackburn he joined the Hawker Aircraft company in 1925 as a draughtsman. During his time at Hawkers he was in charge of designing the metal wing for the

Hawker Hurricane The Hawker Hurricane is a British single-seat fighter aircraft of the 1930s–40s which was designed and predominantly built by Hawker Aircraft Ltd. for service with the Royal Air Force (RAF). It was overshadowed in the public consciousness by ...

. Whilst at Hawkers he was seconded to a role in Sweden where he met his future wife. He became an Associate Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society in 1934.

Gloster Aircraft

He joined the Gloster Aircraft Company in January 1937 as assistant chief designer. He was Assistant-Designer of Gloster Aircraft when it built its first jet aircraft the Gloster E28/39. He would visit the

Power Jets Power Jets was a British company set up by Frank Whittle for the purpose of designing and manufacturing jet engines. The company was nationalised in 1944, and evolved into the National Gas Turbine Establishment. History The origins of Powe ...

company in

Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire to the north, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire to the south-east, Warw ...

with Ivor James and Jack Lobley. He was made an honorary member of the Institution of Engineering Draughtsmen and Designers in recognition of his work on the E28/39. He also worked with Herbert Steventon. In July 1943 he took over full responsibility for the F9/40 project, of what became 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 ...

. In 1948 he became chief designer of Gloster Aircraft, succeeding W G Carter, who became Gloster's technical director. In 1949 he was made a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society. In the early 1950s he designed the Gloster G.A.5 Javelin from F4/48, powered by the Armstrong Siddeley Sapphire This was first flown on 26 November 1951 by

Squadron Leader Squadron leader (Sqn Ldr or S/L) is a senior officer rank used by some air forces, with origins from the Royal Air Force. The rank is used by air forces of many countries that have historical British influence. Squadron leader is immediatel ...

Bill Waterton AFC from the former RAF Moreton Valence south of Gloucester, mostly in the west of

Haresfield Haresfield is a village near Gloucester, Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( , ; abbreviated Glos.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Herefordshire to the north-west, Worcesters ...

and now directly on the

M5 motorway The M5 is a motorway in England linking the Midlands with the South West England, South West. It runs from junction 8 of the M6 motorway, M6 at West Bromwich near Birmingham to Exeter in Devon. Heading south-west, the M5 runs east of West Brom ...

south of junction 12 (B4008). Gloster's general manager at the time was Percy Crabbe.

Personal life

His daughter is Ingrid Twissell, born in 1943, who married in 1972.Daughter
/ref> He had another daughter in 1935, and two sons. He died in 1982 in

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city, non-metropolitan district and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West England, South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean ...

References

* ''Jet Pioneers: Gloster and the Birth of the Jet Age'' * ''Empire of the Clouds: When Britain's Aircraft Ruled the World'' * ''Gloster Aircraft Company'', Derek James {{DEFAULTSORT:Walker, Richard 1900 births English aerospace engineers Fellows of the Royal Aeronautical Society Hawker Hurricane Hawker Siddeley Engineers from Bradford 1982 deaths

Early life

Career

Gloster Aircraft

Personal life

See also

References