Hollis Williams

David Hollis Williams
Born	(1900-02-18) 18 February 1900 Islington, London, England
Died	2 April 1974(1974-04-02) (aged 74)
Occupation	Aircraft designer
Years active	1920s–1962
Known for	Chief designer at Fairey Aviation Company; Chief engineer and technical director at Westland Aircraft

David Hollis Williams FRAeS (18 February 1900 – 2 April 1974) was a prominent British aircraft designer during the early 1930s, initially contributing to the Fairey Aviation Company before moving on to Westland Aircraft.

Early life

Williams was born in Islington, London.

Royal Air Force

He held the rank of pilot officer in the Royal Air Force beginning in November 1923, having piloted aircraft since 1917 through to 1919 and continuing his service from 1923 onward.

Hawker Aircraft

During the mid-1920s, Williams was employed by Hawker Aircraft located in north-east Surrey.

Fairey

In 1930, he took over as chief designer at Fairey, succeeding Panida Antoni Ralli. By March 1933, while serving as assistant chief designer, he earned the Silver Medal from the Royal Aeronautical Society for his contributions to long-range aircraft development; Sir Roy Fedden was also honored with this award. He was inducted as a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society in 1938. His work at Fairey notably included significant involvement with the Fairey Long-range Monoplane project.

Williams returned to Fairey in 1943, assuming the role of chief engineer.

General Aircraft

Between 1934 and 1943, Williams served as chief engineer at General Aircraft Limited, collaborating closely with chief designer Frederick Crocombe. Together they developed the ST18 Monospar 'Croydon,' which embarked on a record attempt flight from England to Australia piloted by Harold 'Tim' Wood. Although the aircraft experienced tail wheel damage in Karachi during the journey, repairs allowed continuation to Australia where it won the Victoria Air Race, despite not breaking the flight time record. On the return leg, navigation issues caused by compass failure and poor bearings near Darwin forced an emergency landing on Serringapatam reef in the East Timor Sea. The entire crew of four survived after rescue by a local fishing vessel; however, the aircraft was lost as it was submerged by tides. Remnants of this plane remain visible on the reef today.

Westland Aircraft

Williams joined Westland Aircraft as chief engineer in August 1951 and was promoted to technical director in 1952. In 1960, he advanced to assistant managing director before retiring in 1962. During his tenure at Westland, he led development of the Westland Whirlwind (helicopter), which had its maiden flight in August 1953. Prior to this, Westland had produced the Sikorsky H-5 under license as the Westland WS-51 Dragonfly starting in 1948. In 1955, Percival Shunker was appointed chief designer at Westland.

Personal life

During the 1920s and 1930s, his residence was located on the B467 in Ickenham. He entered into marriage in 1930. The following year, his daughter was born and later resided on Jersey. His grandson arrived in 1954.

His funeral service was held in Jersey at noon on 12 April 1974. He passed away at the age of 74 in Dakar Hospital, Senegal.

References

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