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Stuart Davies (engineer)

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Stuart Duncan Davies
Born (1906-12-05) 5 December 1906 (age 119)
United Kingdom
Died22 January 1995(1995-01-22) (aged 88)
OccupationAerospace engineer
Years active1922–1960s
Known forLeading design of Avro Vulcan and transforming Avro Manchester into Avro Lancaster
Notable workAvro Vulcan, Avro Lancaster, Avro Athena, Avro York, Avro Lincoln


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Stuart Duncan Davies CBE FREng FRAeS (5 December 1906 – 22 January 1995) was a prominent British aerospace engineer renowned for leading the design of the Avro Vulcan. He also played a pivotal role in transforming the unsuccessful twin-engine Avro Manchester into the highly successful four-engine Avro Lancaster.

Early life

Born to William Davies and Alice Duncan, he received his education at Westminster City grammar school in central London from 1918 until 1923.

Vauxhall

Davies commenced his professional journey at Vauxhall Motors, where he was employed for two years beginning at age sixteen.

Vickers

File:AvroLancasterRIAT2005.jpg
Avro Lancaster

Starting in 1925, he joined Vickers as a junior technical assistant. During this period, he earned an external Bachelor of Science degree in Engineering from Northampton Polytechnic (now City University London) under the University of London. His responsibilities at Vickers included work in the wind tunnel facility at Brooklands and involvement in converting the Virginia biplane bomber from wooden to metal construction.

Hawker

In 1931, Davies transitioned to Hawker Aircraft located at Kingston upon Thames, where he was part of a seven-member stress office team. His projects included work on the RAF’s primary fighter biplanes of the 1930s, the Hart and Fury. By 1933, he began contributing to what would evolve into the Hawker Hurricane, then referred to as the Fury Monoplane.

In April 1936, he was appointed chief designer of Aeronautical Corporation of Great Britain Ltd., a spin-off company that was dissolved approximately in October 1937.

Avro

Following the formation of Hawker Siddeley in 1935, which encompassed A.V.Roe & Company in Manchester, Davies joined Avro in January 1938 as assistant to the chief designer. At age 33, he advanced to experimental manager in April 1940. That same year, he assumed responsibility for adapting the Manchester into the Lancaster bomber. The Lancaster’s maiden flight occurred at Woodford on 8 January 1941, and production eventually reached 7,377 units across the UK and Canada.

File:Avro 698 and Avro Vulcan B.1 top-view silhouettes.png
Change in shape of the Vulcan's wing

From 1944 onward, Davies oversaw development of the Avro York transport aircraft and later contributed to the Avro Lincoln project.

On Saturday, 23 August 1947, at 11:58 am, an Avro Tudor G-AGSU took off but crashed shortly after lift-off when it banked and its starboard wingtip contacted the ground. Survivors included Edward Talbot, the flight engineer residing in Poynton; however, co-designer Roy Chadwick suffered fatal injuries including a fractured skull and pelvis. The accident deeply affected colleagues including Stuart Davies. Chadwick’s wife required medical care upon receiving news of his death. The funeral held on Wednesday, 27 August 1947 at Woodford church was attended by notable figures such as Stuart Davies, Sir Alliott Verdon Roe, Sir Geoffrey de Havilland, and Sir Frank Spriggs.

In 1947 Davies was promoted to technical director at Avro with oversight for producing the Avro Vulcan (Avro 698), which had its first flight on 30 August 1952. He served as Chief Designer from 1945 until 1955 before Roy Ewans succeeded him.

Additionally, Davies designed the advanced single-engine trainer aircraft known as the Avro Athena. The Avro 707B prototype first flew from Dunsfold in August 1951. A total of five Avro 707 aircraft were constructed prior to the Vulcan and served primarily for delta wing experimental research.

In mid-September 1953, during the fourth Anglo-American aeronautical conference spanning three days with twelve technical presentations planned, Davies was scheduled to present on delta-wing aircraft but withdrew his paper due to security concerns. Presenters included George S. Schairer of Boeing discussing engines and William Clegern from Convair. The following month, October 1953, he participated in a meeting with British aircraft designers held in Canada.

File:Avro 722 Atlantic top-view silhouette.png
Proposed Avro Atlantic airliner: perhaps Concorde started life here

The early-1950s saw plans for the Avro Atlantic, a proposed airliner seating approximately ninety-four passengers featuring delta wings and powered by Olympus engines; this design was ultimately never realized.

Later career

He departed from Avro at the close of June 1955, primarily due to his preference for residing in southern England. In November 1955, he joined Dowty,[1] eventually advancing to the position of technical director at Dowty Rotol in June 1966.[2] He also served as managing director of Dowty Fuel Systems based in Cheltenham. Between August 1958 and 1964, he returned to Hawker Siddeley Aviation, taking on the role of technical director.[3]

In May 1958, he was honored with the British Gold Medal from the RAeS for his work on the Vulcan. That same year, the British Silver Medal was awarded to William Henry Lindsey (known as Pat Lindsey), a pioneer of axial-flow jet engines, and William Frederick Saxton of Armstrong Siddeley Motors.[4]

By September 1959, the government encouraged collaboration between Hawker Siddeley and Bristol Aeroplane Company on the Concorde project.[5] Following the creation of Bristol Siddeley in April 1958—which combined Armstrong Siddeley with Hawker Siddeley Aviation—this entity was responsible for producing Concorde’s engines.[6] After Hawker Siddeley Aviation acquired Folland in November 1959, he assumed the role of technical director there.

In April 1961, while serving as technical director at Hawker Siddeley Aviation, he initiated a partnership with the University of Southampton and its Institute of Sound and Vibration Research. This collaboration focused on noise and vibration studies under Professor Elfyn John Richards.[7][8]

Subsequently, he transitioned from aviation to broader engineering fields.[9] He held the presidency of the Royal Aeronautical Society from 1971 to 1972. Having received the RAeS Gold Medal in 1958, he was later elected as a Fellow of the FEng in 1977 and recognized as an honorary Fellow of the RAeS.

File:Vulcan in flight.jpg
Avro Vulcan

Personal life

In 1935, he married Ethel Radcliffe; she predeceased him. The couple had a daughter born in northeast Cheshire in 1939.[10] He was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) during the 1968 Birthday Honours.

He passed away on 22 January 1995 at the age of 88.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Times Tuesday November 15 1955, page 15
  2. ↑ Times Thursday June 23 1966, page 18
  3. ↑ Times Wednesday August 27 1958, page 5
  4. ↑ Times Friday May 16 1958
  5. ↑ Times Tuesday September 8 1959, page 10
  6. ↑ Times Tuesday April 29 1958, page 8
  7. ↑ Times Wednesday April 26 1961, page 9
  8. ↑ Elfyn Richards
  9. ↑ "HS Technical Director Resigns" Flight 1964
  10. ↑ Vulcan to the Sky
  • Times obituary, 11 February 1995, p. 19

External links

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Preceded by President of the Royal Aeronautical Society
1971–72 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
 Technical Director at Dowty Rotol
until 1974 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
 Technical Director at Hawker Siddeley Aviation
1959–64 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
 Chief Designer at A.V. Roe and Company
1945–55 		Succeeded by

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