R. E. Bishop | |
|---|---|
| Born | 27 February 1903 Kensington,London, England |
| Died | 11 June 1989 (1989-06-12) (aged 86)[2] St Albans,Hertfordshire, England |
| Spouse | Nora Armstrong |
| Children | 2 sons |
| Engineering career | |
| Discipline | Aeronautics |
| Employer | de Havilland 1921–1964[1] |
| Significant advance | de Havilland Mosquito,de Havilland Comet |
| Awards | Gold Medal, RAeS (1964) |
Ronald Eric BishopCBEFRAeS (27 February 1903 – 11 June 1989), commonly referred to asR. E. Bishop, was a British engineer who was the chief designer of thede Havilland Mosquito, one of the most famous aircraft of theSecond World War. He also designed thede Havilland Comet jetliner of 1949.[3]
Bishop was born inKensington,London, England.
He was the son of Mr A.R.A. Bishop of 34 Warrior Square inSt Leonards-on-Sea in Sussex.[4]
He joinedde Havilland as an apprentice aged 18 in 1921, and would work there for the next 43 years. He joined the company's design office in 1923.
Bishop became the Chief Designer in 1936, taking over from Arthur Hagg. The first aircraft for which he was responsible was theDH.95 Flamingo, the company's first all-metal monoplane. It had a stressed-skin and carried 17 passengers, first flying on 22 December 1938.Winston Churchill used one to journey to France in the early months of the war before Dunkirk (Operation Dynamo).
Also in his design team were:
Starting in 1938, the outstanding achievement of his design office was the DH.98Mosquito. Conceived as an unarmed bomber, it was expected to reach an unprecedented 376 mph, but successfully managed speeds exceeding 400mph (640kmh), beating a high majority of planes at the time, including theSupermarine Spitfire, allowing it to become Britain's fastest aircraft at the time, and became known as theWooden Wonder. TheAir Ministry had not been amenable to the radical and untried idea of an unarmed bomber, let alone one made of a seemingly obsolete material like wood, and did not fund the design. ButAir Chief Marshal SirWilfrid Freeman was interested and boldly championed the concept; through official scepticism the plane became known asFreeman's Folly. However, his confidence was fully justified as it became the fastest wartime aircraft for two and a half years. The concept of a fast, unarmed bomber was amply justified in practice with very low loss rates. The plane was officially announced on 26 October 1942, de Havilland's first military plane since theAirco DH.10 Amiens of the First World War. On 5 May 1943 its high speed prowess was announced.
After the war, Bishop became the design director on the company's board of directors on 27 December 1946 until February 1964, when he retired. Later that year in October, he received the Gold Medal of the RAeS.
He was first on the scene in the DH110 crash in September 1952, the1952 Farnborough Airshow crash.[5]
In December 1954, Tim Wilkins became head of design at de Havilland.[6]
He became deputy managing director in November 1958.[7]
On 10 June 1997, he appeared on the 37p stamp in a commemorative set of stamps.[8]
Aircraft he was responsible for were:
Bishop married Nora Armstrong (1904-91) inRochford in 1936. They had two sons (one born in 1947). He received the CBE in the1946 Birthday Honours. He lived atFieldgate onRedbourn Lane (B487) in Hatching Green,Harpenden, thenSouth Holme on the B487, and on Oakhurst Avenue, Harpenden.[9][10]
His son was Richard Armstrong Bishop.[11]
He died inSt Albans in June 1989, at the age of 86.
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| Business positions | ||
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| Preceded by | Chief Designer of de Havilland Aircraft 1936-54 | Succeeded by |