Post by Dave Homewood on Oct 29, 2005 14:47:56 GMT 12
I thought it might be interesting to start a thread on this country's aircraft designers. There have obviously been a few, starting way back in the days of Richard Pearse and probably before him.
Whether they've designed military or civil aircraft, helicopters, homebuilts, microlights, ultralights, etc, who do you regard as among the great Kiwi aircraft designers?
I will start with a man who became a Kiwi by choice but was born in Reading, England. Patrick William Charles Monk, possibly this country's finest aircraft designers. Pat is a family friend and used to be my nextdoor neighbour through most of my childhood and youth.
He's the most amazing man, done so much in his life. During WWII he left school and became an apprentice with Miles aviation. He told me that on his first day as an apprentice, he and the other two new boys were allowed to have a look at some RAF Gladiators that had just flown into the Reading airfield. He hopped up onto the wing and his foot went straight through! He felt such a fool and thought he'd be frogmarched out of the aviation world. However, it turns out he'd actually put his foot in the right place, and it shouldn't have broken. He'd inadvertently discovered a major problem with the wing which may have failed in flight he says, so he was praised for his effort.
He went on to train with Miles and worked as a junior designer on many of their aircraft. One he certainly worked on was the Miles M.52, which he told me was a fantastic aircraft and how disappointed he was when it was cancelled.
His career took him to Slingsby, where he designed several gliders himself. And in the 1950's he went to Australia to work at Woomera, where he was working on rockets and things at the nuclear test site.
He went back to the UK for a while and worked in various capacities, I can't rememebr it all. I do know he was involved with the design work on Concorde somehow.
In the late 1960's or early 1970's he came to NZ and lived a short while in Wellington, before becoming Chief Designer with New Zealand Aerospace Industries Limited (or its predcessor AESL actually).
There, Pat was responsible for the redesign of the Airtourer, the design of the Airtrainer and the redesign of the Fletcher. He then designed the Cresco, possibly NZ's most successful aircraft.
Eventually he left NZAI and then got involved with designing airships for Wren Skyships, based in the Isle of Man. He was all for the concept of bringing back the airship to our skies, and he not only designed them but also handled marketing, setting up deals in the Middle East and even came very close to selling airshps to the NZ government for Cook Strait transport and transport of oil!
Sadly it turned out the company was being embessled by its boss and it collapsed, so all the work he'd done over several years and all the deals he'd struck came to nothing. However he and wife Joce settled in the Isle of Man. In order to have the freedom to move back and forward between his homes in NZ and the UK, he took on temporary design work, rather than a full time position. In this period of time he worked for companies such as Boeing, the US military, and various big and small companies. He did some radical design work fitting V8's to Fletchers for a couple of companies, some of this work back at PAC.
Eventually he and Joyce returned to the IofM to retire. Last year, Pat was up a ladder and fell off, hitting his head. It caused serious brain damage, and he has apparently steadily deteriorated. He is now in a resthome, seeing out his days. It's really gutting. He was the most brilliant man I have ever met - you could talk to him about any subject and he could tell you about it for hours. He was always a true gentleman, and had the most amazing memory I've ever seen - recalling specific dates or figures with ease. That has now all gone. Pat was so clever, aircraft were not his only forte, he designed houses, hovercraft, boats, you name it. And he built them too. He was very fluent with science. he once taught a mate how to build huge skyrocket fireworks, which were great till the cops caught him.
He is the only man I've ever come across who had a BD-5 in the rafters of his car-shed too. My little resume above covers but a brief glimpse at his full life and career. I am so priviledged to have known Pat and Joyce Monk, who were more than friends, almost part of the family. They used to buy us kids Christmas presents and bring gifts back for us from their overseas trips. They were always top of the guest list at barbecues, etc. And always a welcome couple. It's sad to think I'll never see Pat again, nor hear his cheery whistle.
So, which NZ designers do you think were the tops?
Whether they've designed military or civil aircraft, helicopters, homebuilts, microlights, ultralights, etc, who do you regard as among the great Kiwi aircraft designers?
I will start with a man who became a Kiwi by choice but was born in Reading, England. Patrick William Charles Monk, possibly this country's finest aircraft designers. Pat is a family friend and used to be my nextdoor neighbour through most of my childhood and youth.
He's the most amazing man, done so much in his life. During WWII he left school and became an apprentice with Miles aviation. He told me that on his first day as an apprentice, he and the other two new boys were allowed to have a look at some RAF Gladiators that had just flown into the Reading airfield. He hopped up onto the wing and his foot went straight through! He felt such a fool and thought he'd be frogmarched out of the aviation world. However, it turns out he'd actually put his foot in the right place, and it shouldn't have broken. He'd inadvertently discovered a major problem with the wing which may have failed in flight he says, so he was praised for his effort.
He went on to train with Miles and worked as a junior designer on many of their aircraft. One he certainly worked on was the Miles M.52, which he told me was a fantastic aircraft and how disappointed he was when it was cancelled.
His career took him to Slingsby, where he designed several gliders himself. And in the 1950's he went to Australia to work at Woomera, where he was working on rockets and things at the nuclear test site.
He went back to the UK for a while and worked in various capacities, I can't rememebr it all. I do know he was involved with the design work on Concorde somehow.
In the late 1960's or early 1970's he came to NZ and lived a short while in Wellington, before becoming Chief Designer with New Zealand Aerospace Industries Limited (or its predcessor AESL actually).
There, Pat was responsible for the redesign of the Airtourer, the design of the Airtrainer and the redesign of the Fletcher. He then designed the Cresco, possibly NZ's most successful aircraft.
Eventually he left NZAI and then got involved with designing airships for Wren Skyships, based in the Isle of Man. He was all for the concept of bringing back the airship to our skies, and he not only designed them but also handled marketing, setting up deals in the Middle East and even came very close to selling airshps to the NZ government for Cook Strait transport and transport of oil!
Sadly it turned out the company was being embessled by its boss and it collapsed, so all the work he'd done over several years and all the deals he'd struck came to nothing. However he and wife Joce settled in the Isle of Man. In order to have the freedom to move back and forward between his homes in NZ and the UK, he took on temporary design work, rather than a full time position. In this period of time he worked for companies such as Boeing, the US military, and various big and small companies. He did some radical design work fitting V8's to Fletchers for a couple of companies, some of this work back at PAC.
Eventually he and Joyce returned to the IofM to retire. Last year, Pat was up a ladder and fell off, hitting his head. It caused serious brain damage, and he has apparently steadily deteriorated. He is now in a resthome, seeing out his days. It's really gutting. He was the most brilliant man I have ever met - you could talk to him about any subject and he could tell you about it for hours. He was always a true gentleman, and had the most amazing memory I've ever seen - recalling specific dates or figures with ease. That has now all gone. Pat was so clever, aircraft were not his only forte, he designed houses, hovercraft, boats, you name it. And he built them too. He was very fluent with science. he once taught a mate how to build huge skyrocket fireworks, which were great till the cops caught him.
He is the only man I've ever come across who had a BD-5 in the rafters of his car-shed too. My little resume above covers but a brief glimpse at his full life and career. I am so priviledged to have known Pat and Joyce Monk, who were more than friends, almost part of the family. They used to buy us kids Christmas presents and bring gifts back for us from their overseas trips. They were always top of the guest list at barbecues, etc. And always a welcome couple. It's sad to think I'll never see Pat again, nor hear his cheery whistle.
So, which NZ designers do you think were the tops?
