Imperial Airways’ Handley Page HP.42, G-AAXF, Helena, in flight. (San Diego Air & Space Museum Archive)Imperial Airways’ “Speedbird” logo by Theyre Lee-Elliott, from a baggage label, 1933.
20 January 1932: Imperial Airways’ Handley Page HP.42, G-AAXF, named Helena, departed Croydon Aerodrome, South London, England, on the first leg of the airline’s new intercontinental mail service to South Africa. The flights would leave Croydon at 12:30 p.m. on Wednesday and arrive at Cape Town on Friday, ten days later.
The route was London, Cairo, Khartoum, Juba, Nairobi, Mbeya, Salisbury, Johannesburg and Cape Town.
The initial flights carried mail only, but scheduled passenger service was soon added. The cost of the flight from London to Cape Town was £130.
‘ON Wednesday, Jan. 20, the first load of mails left Croydon for Cape town and intermediate stations by Imperial Airways service. Our two maps show the route which will be followed, the stages for each day and the types of aircraft used on each section.” —FLIGHT The Aircraft Engineer and Airships, No. 1204, Vol. XXIV. No. 4, 22 January 1932 at Page 74
The HP.42 was a large four-engine biplane built by Handley Page Limited, Hertfordshire, for Imperial Airlines’ long-distance routes. There were two models, the HP.42, for the eastern routes to India and Africa, and the HP.45 for the western flight. (Imperial Airways designated them as “H.P. 42E” and “H.P. 45W.”) The HP.42 could carry 20 passengers and a large amount of baggage. The HP. 45 could carry up to 38 passengers, but less baggage. The variants used different engines. Two of the HP.45 variant, of which Helena was one, were converted to the HP.42 configuration.
Imperial Airways’ Handley Page HP.42 G-AAXF, Helena, at Gaza. (Library of Congress)
The HP.42 was operated by a flight crew of four and could carry six passengers in a forward compartment and twelve aft. The airliner was of all-metal construction, covered in duralumin sheet. It was 89 feet, 9 inches (27.356 meters) long. The upper wing had a span of 130 feet, 0 inches (39.624 meters), and the lower, 94 feet, 0 inches (28.651 meters). The overall height of the airplane was 27 feet (8.230 meters). The lower wing had an unusual configuration with the section inboard of the engine angled upward so that its spars crossed over the passenger cabin, rather than through. The empty weight was 17,740 pounds (8,047 kilograms) and maximum takeoff weight was 28,000 pounds (12,701 kilograms.)
Cutaway Illustration of a Handley Page HP.42, by George Horace Davis, 1930.
The HP.42 was powered by four air-cooled, supercharged 1,752.788-cubic-inch-displacement (28.723 liter) Bristol Jupiter XI F 9-cylinder radial engines with a compression ratio of 5:1, which had a normal power rating of 460 horsepower at 2,000 r.p.m., and produced a maximum of 510 horsepower at 2,250 r.p.m., each. Two engines were mounted in nacelles between the upper and lower wings, and two were mounted on the lower wing. All four engines were left-hand tractors, driving four-bladed propellers through a 2:1 gear reduction. The Jupiter XI weighed 880 pounds (399 kilograms). The throttles were arranged so that the upper engines could go to full throttle only after the lower engines, rather than simultaneously.
The HP.42 had a cruise speed of 96 miles per hour (155 kilometers per hour) and its maximum speed was 120 miles per hour (193 kilometers per hour). The airliner’s range was 500 miles (805 kilometers).
Imperial Airways’ Handley Page HP.42, G-AAXF, Helena, being moved by a ground crew. (State Library of New South Wales)
Several aircraft were placed in service with the Royal Air Force at the beginning of World War II. Helena was damaged in a hard landing, and after inspection, was scrapped. By 1941, all HP.42s had been destroyed.
Imperial Airways poster by Theyre Lee-Elliott (David Lee Theyre Elliott), 1932. Elliott created the “Speedbird” logo. (1stdibs)
Colonel Edwin Eugene Aldrin, Jr., United States Air Force, National Aeronautics and Space Administration Astronaut, in the Apollo 11 Lunar Module, Eagle. (NASA)Edwin E. (“Buzz”) Aldrin, Jr., 1947. (The Amphitheatre)
20 January 1930: Colonel Edwin E. Aldrin, Jr., Sc.D., United States Air Force (Retired), was born at Glen Ridge, New Jersey, the second child of Edwin Eugene Aldrin, Aviation Director of Standard Oil Company of New Jersey, and Marion Gaddys Moon Aldrin.
The family resided in Montclair, New Jersey. “Buzz” Aldrin attended Montclair High School, and participated in football and track and field (pole vault). He graduated in 1947.
After high school, Aldrin turned down a full scholarship to attend the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M.I.T.) and instead entered the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York. During his Plebe Year (freshman), Cadet Aldrin placed first in academics and physical education. He was a member of the French Club and the track and swim teams. In his third year he was a cadet corporal, and was designated as “distinguished.” He served as a cadet lieutenant during his final year.
Cadet Edwin Eugene Aldrin, Jr., 1951. (The Howitzer)
Aldrin graduated from West Point on 5 June 1951 with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Mechanical Engineering (B.S.M.E.). He was ranked third in his class. A notation in the class yearbook states,
“As is evidenced by his fine record at the Academy, Buzz should make a capable, dependable and efficient officer in the U.S. Air Force.”
—The Howitzer 1951, at Page 98
Aldrin accepted a commission as a second lieutenant in the United States Air Force, with his date of rank retroactive to 1 June 1951. Second Lieutenant Aldrin was assigned to basic flight training at Bartow Air Force Base, Florida. Advanced training took place at Bryan Air Force Base, Texas. He trained as a fighter pilot and transitioned to the North American Aviation F-86 Sabre at Nellis Air Force Base, near Las Vegas, Nevada.
Lieutenant Aldrin flew the North American Aviation F-86E Sabre with the 16th Fighter Interceptor Squadron, 51st Fighter Interceptor Wing, located at Suwon Air Base (K-13), Korea. On 14 May 1953 he shot down an enemy Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG 15 fighter, for which he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross.¹ Three weeks later, 7 June, he shot down a second MiG 15.
Still images from the gun camera film show an enemy pilot bailing out of a Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG 15 shot down by Lieutenant Edwin E. (“Buzz”) Aldrin, U.S. Air Force, 5 miles south of the Yalu River, 14 May 1953. (U.S. Air Force)Lieutenant Buzz Aldrin, 51st Fighter Interceptor Wing, in the cockpit of a North American Aviation F-86E Sabre after shooting down an enemy Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG 15 fighter during the Korean War. (U.S. Air Force via Jet Pilot Overseas)
Buzz Aldrin flew 66 combat missions during the Korean War. After returning to the United States, he served as a flight instructor at Bryan AFB, Texas, and then a gunnery instructor at Nellis AFB, Nevada.
Instructor Buzz Aldrin in the cockpit of a Lockheed T-33A Shooting Star at Bryan Air Force Base, Texas. (U.S. Air Force via Jet Pilot Overseas)
1st Lieutenant Edwin E. Aldrin, Jr., married Miss Joan Ann Archer at the Episcopal Church in Ho-ho-kus, New Jersey, 29 December 1954. They would have three children.
Lieutenant and Mrs. Edwin E. Aldrin, Jr., 29 December 1954. The bride is the former Miss Joan Ann Archer.
Lieutenant Aldrin’s next assignment was to the three-month Squadron Officer School at Maxwell Air Force Base, Montgomery, Alabama. Aldrin then served as an aide to Brigadier General Don Zabriskie Zimmerman, the Dean of Faculty at the newly-established United States Air Force Academy, which was then located at Lowry Air Force Base, Denver, Colorado.
In 1955, Captain Aldrin was assigned to the 22nd Fighter Day Squadron, 36th Fighter Day Wing, at Bitburg Air Base, Germany, flying the North American Aviation F-100 Super Sabre. The squadron trained at Wheelus Air Base in North Africa.
North American Aviation F-100C-20-NA Super Sabre 54-1941, 22nd Fighter Day Squadron, 36th Fighter Day Wing, at Bitburg Air Base, Germany. (U.S. Air Force)
In 1959 Captain Aldrin returned to the United States to enter a masters degree program in aeronautics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts. Aldrin and his wife were both very seriously ill at this time, and he was a patient in a military hospital for the first six months. With nothing to do but study, Aldrin finished first among the other Air Force officers in the program.
Aldrin remained at M.I.T. to earn a Doctorate in Science in Astronautics (Sc.D.) by devising orbital navigation techniques. His thesis on Manned Orbital Rendezvous, earned Buzz another nickname: “Dr. Rendezvous.”
In October 1963, Major Aldrin was selected as an astronaut for the Gemini Program. He was one of 14 members of NASA Astronaut Group 3, which was announced 18 October 1963. He flew with James A. Lovell, Jr., aboard Gemini XII, 11–15 November 1966. They made 59 orbits of the Earth in 3 days, 22 hours, 34 minutes, 31 seconds. Aldrin performed the first successful “space walk.” He was outside the spacecraft for three “EVAs,” of 2 hours, 29 minutes; 2 hours, 6 minutes; and 55 minutes. A rendezvous and docking with an Agena target vehicle was also successful.
Astronaut Buzz Aldrin standing in the open hatch of Gemini XII in Earth orbit. (NASA)
Gemini XII was the final manned flight of the Gemini Program. Buzz Aldrin moved on to the Apollo Program.
Along with Neil Alden Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin landed on the Moon, 20 July 1969.
Astronaut Edwin Eugene Aldrin, Jr. on the surface of The Moon, 20 July 1969. (Neil A. Armstrong/NASA)
Aldrin resigned from NASA in July 1971. Returning to operational service with the Air Force, Colonel Aldrin was assigned as Commandant of the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base, California. He retired in March 1972.
Colonel Edwin Eugene Aldrin, Jr., United States Air Force. (U.S. Air Force)
On 5 May 2023, Colonel Aldrin was promoted to the rank of Brigadier General at a ceremony held at Los Angeles Air Force Base.
In Return To Earth, (Random House, Inc., New York, 1973) Buzz Aldrin wrote about the depression he suffered: After you’ve been to the Moon, what else is there?
Aldrin has been married three times. He and his first wife, Joan, divorced in December 1974. He married Mrs. Beverly I. Handelsman Van Zile, 19 December 1975. They divorced 10 April 1978. On Valentine’s Day, 14 February 1988, Aldrin married his third wife, Mrs. Lois Driggs Cannon. They divorced 28 December 2012.
Buzz Aldrin has written several books and he continues to advocate manned space exploration.
HAPPY 95th BIRTHDAY, General Aldrin!
Edwin Eugene (“Buzz”) Aldrin, Jr., Sc.D., Colonel, U.S. Air Force (Retired), and NASA Astronaut, August 2016. (Mike Marsland/WireImage)
¹ Soviet records indicate that a MiG 15 of 913 IAP (Istrebitel’nyy Aviatsionnyy Polk, Fighter Aviation Regiment), 32nd IAD (Istrebitel’naya Aviatsionnyy Diveeziya, Fighter Aviation Division), based at Antung Air Base, China, was shot down by an F-86 on 13 May 1953. The pilot, Senior Lieutenant Hristoforov, ejected safely. There were three MiG 15 losses that occurred on 14 May 1953. Two MiGs of 224 IAP collided and both pilots, Senior Lieutenant Odintsov and Lieutenant Evgeny Stroliikov, ejected. Odintsov was seriously hurt. A third MiG 15 crash landed at Myagoy Air Base. Its pilot, Senior Lieutenant Vladimir Sedashev, 518 IAP, was killed.
McDonnell Douglas F-15A-6-MC Streak Eagle 72-0119. (U.S. Air Force)Major Roger J. Smith, U.S. Air Force
19 January 1975: Major Roger Jameson Smith, United States Air Force, a test pilot assigned to the F-15 Joint Test Force at Edwards AFB, California, flew the McDonnell Douglas F-15A-6-MC 72-0119, Streak Eagle, to its sixth Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) and U.S. National Aeronautic Association time-to-altitude record.
From brake release at Grand Forks Air Force Base, North Dakota, at 913 feet (278 meters) above Sea Level, the F-15 reached 20,000 meters (65,617 feet) in 122.94 seconds.
This was the sixth time-to-altitude record set by Streak Eagle in just three days.
FAI Record File Num #9066 [Direct Link]
Status: ratified – retired by changes of the sporting code
Region: World
Class: C (Powered Aeroplanes)
Sub-Class: C-1 (Landplanes)
Category: Not applicable
Group: 3 : turbo-jet
Type of record: Time to climb to a height of 20 000 m
Performance: 2 min 02.94s
Date: 1975-01-19
Course/Location: Grand Forks, ND (USA)
Claimant Roger J. Smith (USA)
Aeroplane: McDonnell Douglas F-15
Engines: 2 Pratt & Whitney F-100
Roger Smith’s United States National Record still stands.
Streak Eagle is a very early production F-15A-6-MC Eagle, a single-seat, twin-engine air superiority fighter. It is 63 feet, 9.0 inches (19.431 meters) long with a wingspan of 42 feet, 9.7 inches (13.048 meters) and overall height of 18 feet, 5.4 inches (5.624 meters). The F-15A has an empty weight of 25,870 pounds (11,734 kilograms) and its maximum takeoff weight (MTOW) is 44,497 pounds (20,184 kilograms).
The F-15A is powered by two Pratt & Whitney JTF22A-25A (F100-PW-100) afterburning turbofan engines. The F100 is a two-spool, axial-flow turbine engine with a 3-stage fan section; 10-stage compressor; single chamber combustion section; and 4-stage turbine (2 low- and 2 high-pressure stages). The engine has a Maximum Continuous Power rating of 12,410 pounds of thrust (55.202 kilonewtons); 14,690 pounds (65.344 kilonewtons, 30-minute limit; and a maximum 23,840 pounds (106.046 kilonewtons), 5-minute limit. The F100-PW-100 is 191 inches (4.851 meters) long, 46.5 inches (1.181 meters) in diameter, and weighs 3,035 pounds (1,376.7 kilograms).
The cruise speed of the F-15A Eagle is 502 knots (578 miles per hour/930 kilometers per hour). It has a maximum speed of 893 knots (1,028 miles per hour/1,654 kilometers per hour) at 10,000 feet (3,048 meters), and 1,434 knots (1,650 miles per hour/2,656 kilometers per hour) at 45,000 feet (13,716 meters). The ceiling is 63,050 feet (19,218 meters) at maximum power. It can climb at an initial 67,250 feet per minute (342 meters per second) from Sea Level, and with a thrust-to-weight ratio of 1.15:1, The F-15 can climb straight up. The Eagle’s combat radius is 638 nautical miles (734 statute miles/1,182kilometers).
The F-15A is armed with one General Electric M61A1 Vulcan 20mm rotary cannon with 938 rounds of ammunition, four AIM-7 Sparrow radar-guided missiles and four AIM-9 Sidewinder heat-seeking missiles.
384 F-15A Eagles were built before production shifted to the improved F-15C version. As F-15Cs became operational, the F-15As were transferred to Air National Guard units assigned to defend continental U.S. airspace. The last F-15A was retired from service in 2009.
Streak Eagle was specially modified for the record attempts. Various equipment that would not be needed for these flights was eliminated: The flap and speed brake actuators, the M61 cannon and its ammunition handling equipment, the radar and fire control systems, unneeded cockpit displays and radios, and one generator.
Other equipment was added: An extended pitot boom was mounted at the nose with alpha and beta vanes; equipment for the pilot’s David Clark Company A/P-225-6 full pressure suit; extremely sensitive accelerometers and other instrumentation; extra batteries; an in-cockpit video camera aimed over the pilot’s shoulder; and perhaps most important, a special hold-back device was installed in place of the fighter’s standard arresting hook.
These changes resulted in an airplane that was approximately 1,800 pounds (817 kilograms) lighter than the standard production F-15A. This gave it a thrust-to-weight ratio of 1.4:1.
Streak Eagle, the modified McDonnell Douglas F-15A-6-MC, 72-0119, on the runway at Grand Forks AFB, North Dakota, being prepared for a flight record attempt. (U.S. Air Force)
The flight profiles for the record attempts were developed by McDonnell Douglas Chief Developmental Test Pilot, Charles P. “Pete” Garrison (Lieutenant Colonel, U.S. Air Force, Retired).
Streak Eagle carried only enough fuel for each specific flight, and for the 20,000 meter climb, weighed 29,877 pounds (13,552 kilograms). It was secured to the hold-back device on the runway and the engines were run up to full afterburner. It was released from the hold-back and was airborne in just three seconds.
When the F-15 reached 428 knots (793.4 kilometers per hour), the pilot pulled up into an Immelman, holding 2.5 Gs. Streak Eagle arrived back over the air base, in level flight at about 32,000 feet (9,754 meters), but upside down. Rolling up right, Streak Eagle continued accelerating to Mach 1.5 when the pilot pulled the fighter up at 4.0 Gs until it reached a 55° climb angle until it reached 20,000 meters
Because Streak Eagle was a very early production airplane, its internal structure was weaker than the final production F-15A standard. It was considered too expensive to modify it to the new standard. It was transferred to the National Museum of the United States Air Force at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, in December 1980.
McDonnell Douglas F-15A Streak Eagle at the National Museum of the United States Air Force. (U.S. Air Force 240528-F-IO108-055)Roger J. Smith, 1951
Roger Jameson Smith was born 26 January 1935 at Fostoria, Ohio. He was the son of Ruland Leslie Smith, an illuminating engineer for a glass works, and Frances Victora Shaw Smith. He attended Newark High School, Newark, Ohio, graduating in 1953.
Following high school, Smith studied at Ohio State University. He was a member of the Reserve Officers Training Corps (R.O.T.C.), the Alpha Tau Omega (ΑΤΩ) fraternity, Pi Tau Sigma (ΠΤΣ) and the Tau Beta Pi (ΤΒΠ) engineering honor societies. He graduated in 1958 with a degree in mechanical engineering. He later earned a masters degree from the University of Southern California.
Roger Smith was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the United States Air Force Reserve in October 1958. He then trained as a pilot.
Miss Marilyn Ann Dickey
Second Lieutenant Roger Jameson Smith married Miss Marilyn Ann Dickey at 6:30 p.m., Saturday, 6 June 1959, Weaver Memorial Chapel at Wittenberg College, Springfield, Ohio. The ceremony was presided over by Rev. Dr. Edgar F. Drumel. They would eventually have three children.
Smith deployed to Germany for two operational tours. He served in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War. In 1967, he flew 75 combat missions from Bien Hoa Air Base, Republic of South Vietnam, in the Cessna A-37 Dragonfly, then 128 missions in the Republic F-105D Thunderchief from Takhli Royal Thai Air Force Base, Thailand.
Smith graduated from the U.S. Air Force Aerospace Research Test Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base in California. He also attended the United States Naval War College.
Roger J. Smith retired from the United States Air Force in 1984. He had flown more than 5,000 hours, and had been awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, Bronze Star, and ten Air Medals. For his flights in Streak Eagle, Smith was awarded the Mackay Trophy.
Colonel Roger Jameson Smith, U.S. Air Force (Retired) died 24 April 2021 at the age of 86 years. His remains were interred at the Jacksonville National Cemetery, Jacksonville, Florida.
Avro Canada CF-100 Mark 1, 18101 (Avro Canada, via Harold A. Skaarup)
19 January 1950: At Malton Airport,¹ northwest of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, the Gloster Aircraft Company’s chief test pilot, Squadron Leader William Arthur Waterton, AFC and Bar, GM, took the prototype Avro Canada CF-100 Mark 1, serial number 18101, for its first flight. Waterton, a Canadian, had been loaned to Avro Canada by Gloster for the test flight. (Avro Canada and Gloster were both owned by the Hawker Siddeley Group. Waterton was the most experienced jet aircraft pilot in the group at the time.)
The first flight lasted approximately 40 minutes, reaching 180 knots (207 miles per hour/333 kilometers per hour) and 5,000 feet (1524 meters). The only problem was that the button for cycling the landing gear would not operate, so Waterton decided to continue the flight with the gear down.² After landing Waterton said,
“She handled extremely well. Avro Canada seems to have overcome many points of criticism in existing fighters.”
The trouble had been simple. The shock-absorbing undercarriage legs were British developed and, unknown to the makers, were contracting slightly in the cold. Consequently, when the ‘plane’s weight came off the wheels, the legs did not “stretch” as much as they should have done—there was insufficient “stretch” to release the electrically triggered safety switch. When modifications were made the undercarriage gave no further trouble.
—The Quick and The Dead, Squadron Leader W.A. Waterton, G.M., A.F.C. and bar. Frederick Muller Ltd., London, 1956, Chapter 11 at Page 168
Avro Canada CF-101 Mark 1 18101 with government officials and test pilot Bill Waterton (Library and Archives Canada, MIKAN No. 4047130/Neil Corbett, Test & Research Pilots, Flight Test Engineers)
CF-100 18101 was the first of two Mark 1 prototypes for a twin-engine, all-weather, long range fighter. It had originally been designated XC-100. It was a large two-place aircraft, with a low, straight wing and a high-mounted horizontal stabilizer. It had tricycle landing gear. Each strut mounted two tires to support the weight of the aircraft. The two engines were mounted in long nacelles above the wings and on either side of the fuselage.
The CF-100 Mark 1 prototypes were 52 feet, 6 inches (16.002 meters) long, with a wing span of 52 feet, 0 inches (15.850 meters) and overall height of 14 feet, 6.4 inches (4.430 meters). They had an empty weight of 19,185 pounds (8,702 kilograms), and gross weight of 31,877 pounds (14,459 kilograms).
The prototypes were powered by two Rolls-Royce Avon RA.2 turbojet engines. (Some sources say the engines were RA.3s, though a specific mark is not described.) The Avon R.A.2 was a single-spool, axial flow turbojet with a 12-stage compressor section and single-stage turbine. It was rated at 6,000 pounds of thrust (26.69 kilonewtons). The RA.2 weighed 2,400 pounds (1,089 kilograms). The RA.2 also powered the English Electric Canberra B.1 prototype. Production CF-100s would be powered by the Avro Canada Orenda engine.
The Mark 1 had a maximum speed of 552 miles per hour (888 kilometers per hour) at 40,000 feet (12,192 meters). It could climb at 9,800 feet per minute (49.8 meters per second). Its service ceiling was 50,000 feet (15,240 meters).
The two Mark 1s had no radar and were not armed.
Avro Canada CF-100 Mark 1 18101, FB D. (Avro Canada)
Following the two Mark 1 prototypes, Avro Canada produced ten Mark 2 pre-production aircraft, two of which were trainers. The first operational variant was the CF-100 Mark 3. It was equipped with radar and armed with eight Browning M3 .50-caliber machine guns with 200 rounds of ammunition per gun.
The Mark 4 was equipped with a more powerful radar. In addition to the machine guns, armament consisted of 58 unguided 2.75 inch (70 millimeter) Mark 4 Folding Fin Aerial Rockets (FFARs), each with a 6 pound 92.7 kilogram) explosive warhead. These were carried in wingtip pods.
Two Avro Canada CF-100 Mark 4B all-weather, long-range interceptors, 18423 and 18470. (Royal Canadian Air Force)
On 18 Dec 1952, Avro Canada test pilot Janusz Żurakowski put CF-101 Mark 4 serial number 18112 into a dive from 30,000 feet (9,144 meters) and reached Mach 1.10. This was the first time that a straight wing aircraft exceeded Mach 1 without rocket power.
The majority of CF-100s were the Mark 5 variant. These had a greater wing span and larger horizontal stabilizer. The machine guns were eliminated.
Avro Canada CF-100 Mark 5 18539. (Royal Canadian Air Force)
A total of 692 of all types were built. 53 were sold to the Belgian Air Force. The CF-100 remained in service with the Royal Canadian Air Force until 1981.
CF-100 Mark 1 18102 was used to test wingtip-mounted fuel tanks. It crashed 5 April 1951 and was destroyed. Test pilot Flight Lieutenant Bruce Warren and flight engineer Jack Hieber were killed. The crew may have suffered hypoxia.
18101 was retained for testing. It was scrapped in 1965.
“Royal Air Force test pilot Squadron Leader Bill Waterton (1916-2006) AFC, of the RAF High Speed Flight, posed at a RAF station in England in August 1946. Bill Waterton, with fellow test pilots Neville Duke and Edward Donaldson, are preparing to attempt to break the world air speed record in a Gloster Meteor F4 jet aircraft. (Photo by Edward Malindine/Popperfoto via Getty Images)” Waterton’s ribbons are the Air Force Cross and the 1939–45 Star campaign medal.
William Arthur Waterton was born 18 March 1916, at Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. He was the first of two sons of William Albert Waterton, a police officer, and Mary Elizabeth Sereda Waterton. After high school, he attended Camrose Normal School, Alberta, a college for teachers. He then spent two years the Royal Military College, Kingston, Ontario, graduating 1937. While there, he was a boxer. Waterton was commissioned in the 19th Alberta Dragoons in 1938.
Waterton crossed the Atlantic Ocean to attend the Civil Flying Training School, Hanworth, Feltham, Middlesex. He departed St. John, New Brunswick, aboard the 22,022 gross registered ton (62,322 cubic meters) Canadian Pacific passenger liner Duchess of Richmond, arriving at Liverpool on 17 April 1939.
Duchess of Richmond (John H. Brown & Co., Ltd.)
On 10 June 1939, Bill Waterton was granted a short service commission in the Royal Air Force as an Acting Pilot Officer on probation for six years on the active list. (RAF serial number 42288)
Six months later,18 November 1939, Acting Pilot Officer on probation William Arthur Waterton was graded as Pilot Officer on probation.
A Hawker Hurricane Mk.I, N2320, assigned to No. 242 Squadron, Royal Air Force, circa 1940.
Pilot Officer Waterton was assigned to No. 242 Squadron, the first all-Canadian fighter squadron, at RAF Church Fenton, southeast of Tadcaster, North Yorkshire, England. The Second World War had been underway for twelve weeks.
On 25 May 1940 his Hawker Hurricane Mk.I ² (squadron code “LE”), was disabled by anti-aircraft fire over Dunkerque, France. Waterton made it across the English Channel to Dover where he crash landed, suffering a severe head injury. Waterton was unconscious in a London hospital for five days, and remained hospitalized for three months.
Waterton’s Hurricane was repaired and returned to service.
On 18 Nov 1940, Pilot Officer on probation Waterton was confirmed in his appointment and promoted to the rank of Flying Officer.
After returning to flight status, Flying Officer Waterton was assigned as a flight instructor with No. 6 Operational Training Unit (OTU).
Flying Officer Waterton was promoted to the rank of Flight Lieutenant, 18 January 1941.
Waterton served as a flight instructor in Canada in throughout 1942.
Air Force Cross
Flight Lieutenant William Arthur Waterton was awarded the Air Force Cross, 1 January 1943.
Waterton was next assigned to the Transatlantic Ferry Command, then transferred to No. 124 Squadron at RAF Manston, where he flew the Supermarine Spitfire Mk.VI and VII. In September 1943, he was assigned to No.1409 (Meteorological) Flight at RAF Oakington, which was equipped with unarmed de Havilland Mosquitos.
In May 1944, Waterton was assigned to the Air Fighting Development Unit (Central Fighter Establishment) at RAF Wittering, testing captured enemy aircraft and comparing them to Allied aircraft.
On 13 April 1945, Flight Lieutenant Waterton was transferred to reserve and called up for Air Force service.
Flight Lieutenant Waterton was promoted to the rank of Squadron Leader in June 1946.
Waterton attended No. 5 Empire Test Pilots School at Hanworth, where he had begun his aviation career in 1939.
After the War, Waterton was selected for the RAF High Speed Flight. Along with Group Captain Edward Mortlock (“Teddy”) Donaldson and Squadron Leader Neville Frederick Duke, he was to attempt a world speed record with the Gloster Meteor F. Mk.IV fighter.
Gloster Meteor F. Mk.4 EE549, the world record holder, at RAF Tangmere, 1 August 1946. (FlightGlobal)
On Friday, 16 August 1946, Squadron Leader Waterton flew Gloster Meteor F. Mk.IV EE550 ³ to 620 miles per hour (998 kilometers per hour) over a 3 kilometer course. Although this was 14 miles per hour (23 kilometers per hour) over the existing record, it was not an official record.
Squadron Leader William Arthur Waterton, AFC, RAF, climbing from the cockpit of his Gloster Meteor IV after a speed record attempt, at RAF Tangmere, 1946. (Neil Corbett, Test & Research Pilots, Flight Test Engineers)
On 7 September 1946, Waterton made made five runs over the course with EE550 during a 21 minute period. However, Group Captain Donaldson, flying Meteor IV EE549, established a new Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) World Record for Speed Over a 3 Kilometer Course, averaging 991 kilometers per hour (615.779 miles per hour). [FAI Record File Number 9848] This exceeded the record record set by Group Captain Hugh Joseph Wilson with Meteor IV EE455, 7 November 1945. [FAI Record File Number 9847] (Please see This Day in Aviation for 7 November 1945 at: https://www.thisdayinaviation.com/7-november-1945/ )
Interestingly, Donaldson had said that he thought that Waterton’s Meteor was the faster of the two.
Group Captain Edward M. Donaldson passing a timing station on the high speed course in Gloster Meteor F. Mk.IV EE549. (Royal Air Force)“Squadron Leader Bill Waterton leaves Gloster Meteor EE549 at Farnborough after flying from Le Bourget to Croydon in 20 minutes at an average speed of 616 mph on 16 January 1947.” (Mary Evans Picture Library Media ID 18387988)
On 16 January 1947, Bill Waterton flew Meteor IV EE549 (the world record holder) from Aéroport de Paris – Le Bourget, to London, a distance of 208 statute miles, in 20 minutes, 11 seconds, at an average speed of 618.4 miles per hour (995.2 kilometers per hour). (This is not an official record.)
(The Daily Telegraph, No. 28,571, Friday, January 17, 1947, Page 13, Columns 4–5)Great Circle route from Aéroport de Paris-Le Bourget to Croydon Airport, 174 nautical miles (200 statute miles/322 kilometers). (Great Circle Mapper)
Acting Squadron Leader William Arthur Waterton, R.A.F.O. (Reserve of Air Force Officers), was awarded a Bar to his Air Force Cross (a second award of the AFC), 12 June 1947.
Waterton left the Royal Air Force and joined Gloster Aircraft Co. Ltd. on 21 October 1947as a test pilot at a salary of £1,000 per year. In addition to testing improved Meteor variants, he was also assigned to the experimental E.1/44 and the delta-winged GA.5 Javelin. On 1 April 1948, he was appointed the company’s chief test pilot with an increase to £1,500 per year.
On 6 February 1948, Squadron Leader Waterton, flying a Gloster Meteor F. Mk.IV, VT103, set an Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) World Record for Speed Over a Closed Circuit of 100 Kilometers, averaging 873.786 kilometers per hour (542.945miles per hour/471.807 knots). The course was from RAF Moreton Valence, southwest of Gloucester, to Evesham Bridge, Pershore Aerodrome, Defford Aerodrome and Grange Court Junction.⁴
Waterton had made an attempt earlier in the day with a Meteor F. Mk.V, averaging only 522 m.p.h. (840 kilometers per hour). Disappointed, he switched to a standard production Meteor IV and tried again.
The second E.1/44 prototype was the first to fly, with Waterton at the controls, 9 March 1948. (The first had been damaged while being transported by truck.) Waterton called the airplane the Gloster Gormless, “since she was so heavy for her single Nene engine.”
Gloster E.1/44 (Imperial War Museum ATP 17442B)
Waterton took the prototype Gloster GA.5 Javelin, WD804, for its first flight, 26 November 1951.
Gloster GA.5 Javelin WD804. (Royal Air Force)
On 29 June 1952, while Waterton was conducting the Javelin’s 99th flight, it experienced extreme flutter and both elevators separated from the airplane. Using the horizontal stabilizer’s trim control, Waterton was able to land the aircraft at RAF Boscombe Down, Wiltshire, though at a much higher speed than normal. The landing gear collapsed. The aircraft caught fire and was ultimately destroyed.
Bill Waterton was awarded the George Medal by Queen Elizabeth II.
In July 1953, Bill Waterton married Marjorie E. Stocks at Cheltenham, Gloucestershire.
A 1956 First Edition of Bill Waterton’s book, The Quick and the Dead.
Very critical of the safety record of the British aircraft industry, Waterton left Gloster and became an aviation correspondent for the Daily Express. After publishing his autobiography, The Quick and the Dead, in 1956, in which he continued his criticism of the aircraft industry, he was fired. The newspaper said that the aviation industry had stopped buying advertising space.
Bill Waterton returned to Canada, residing at Owen Sound, Ontario.
Squadron Leader William Arthur Waterton, AFC and Bar, GM, Royal Air Force, died 17 April 2006, at Owen Sound. He was 90 years of age. His remains were interred at the Oxenden Cemetery, Oxenden, Ontario, Canada.
¹ Today known as Toronto Pearson International Airport (YYZ)
² Martin’s Aviation Pages states L1654: https://martinaviationpages.com/25-may-1940/
Royal Air Force Commands Hurricane Mk.I data base says L1852: https://www.rafcommands.com/database/hurricanes/details.php?uniq=L1852
³ EE550 was destroyed 6 January 1951, west of Ashford, Kent. At 20,000 feet (6,096 meters) its pilot, Pilot Officer Thomas Charles Hood, RAF, was seen not wearing his oxygen mask. The meteor pitched up, rolled over and dived into the ground.
Howard Hughes climbs out of the cockpit of the H-1 Racer, NX258Y, at Newark Metropolitan Airport, 19 January 1937. “Grimy from the smoke of his exhaust stacks the lanky pilot climbed out of his cramped cockpit and grinned.” (LIFE Magazine)
19 January 1937: Howard Robard Hughes, Jr., departed Union Air Terminal, Burbank, California, at 2:14 a.m., Pacific Standard Time (10:14 UTC) aboard his Hughes Aircraft Company H-1 Racer, NR258Y. He flew non-stop across the North American continent to Newark Metropolitan Airport, Newark, New Jersey, and arrived overhead at 12:42:25 p.m., Eastern Standard Time (17:42:25 UTC).
Hughes completed the 2,490-mile (4,007.3 kilometer) flight in 7 hours, 28 minutes, 25 seconds, at an average speed of 332 miles per hour (534 kilometers per hour). He broke the existing record, which he himself had set just over one year previously in a Northrop Gamma, by more than two hours.¹ (The 1937 flight is not recognized as an FAI record.)
Hughes H-1 NX258Y. (Hughes Aircraft Company)
The New York Times reported:
All landplane distance speed records were broken yesterday by Howard Hughes, millionaire sportsman pilot, who reached Newark Airport 7 hours 28 minutes and 25 seconds after he took off from Los Angeles, Calif. He was forced to stay aloft until the runway at the field was clear and landed at 1:03 P.M. His average speed was 332 miles an hour for the 2,490 miles he traveled.
Grimy from the smoke of his exhaust stacks the lanky pilot climbed out of his cramped cockpit and grinned. In recounting his experiences on the flight he said that the skies were overcast all the way and he had to fly on top of the clouds . . .
It was 2:14 o’clock in the morning and pitch dark when he opened the throttle at the Union Air Terminal at Burbank and released the 1,100 horsepower sealed in the fourteen cylinders of his supercharged Twin Row Wasp engine. The sleek gray and ble low-winged monoplane, designed and built under his own direction, staggered, accelerated and then literally vaulted into the air. Within a few seconds Hughes climbed into the low-hanging clouds and swung eastward . . .
At 14,000 feet, at which altitude he flew most of the way, he passed over the clouds, set his course and leveled off. He throttled his engine back until it was delivering only 375 horsepower and hunched himself over his instrument panel . . .
His arrival at Newark was unheralded and a surprise. It was thought that he was going to land at Chicago. The new United Air Lines extra-fare plane was loaded for its initial run and already had its door locked when the propeller whir of the hurling racer apparently made the buildings tremble from sound vibration as Hughes swept low across the field. William Zint of the Longines Watch Company, official timer for the National Aeronautic Association, noted the time. It was exactly 42 minutes and 25 seconds after noon.
Hughes pulled up in a sweeping chandelle maneuver and circled. The United Air Liner was already on the runway when Hughes swung back toward the flaps on his wing to slacken speed for landing . . . and the plane settled fast toward the earth. Still the pilot had no signal from the control tower where the dispatchers act as traffic patrols at the busiest airport in the world. Hughes had to open his throttle again and cruise around the field for some time before the green light at last came on. The United plane was then well on its course toward Chicago. Hughes’s plane slid in over the airport boundary, dropped it’s retractable undercarriage and tail wheel and touched both wheels and tail wheel in a perfect three-point landing at 1:02:30 P.M. . . .
— Excerpted from an article in The New York Times, Wednesday, 20 January 1937, Page 1 at Columns 6 and 7.
After landing at Newark, Hughes told newspaper reporters, “I flew at 14,000 feet most of the way,” Hughes said, “with my highest speed 370 miles an hour. I used about 200 of the 280-gallon load. I am very tired—a bit shaky.”
[Richard W.] Palmer met Hughes at Newark Airport. The two men shook their heads at each other. “I knew she was fast,” Hughes told his chief engineer, “but I didn’t know she was that fast.”
— Newark, N.J., Tuesday, Jan. 19.—(AP)
Howard Hughes with his H-1 Racer, NR258Y.
The Hughes H-1 (FAA records describe the airplane as a Hughes Model 1B, serial number 1) was a single-seat, single-engine low wing monoplane with retractable landing gear, designed by Richard W. Palmer. Emphasis had been placed on an aerodynamically clean design and featured flush riveting on the aluminum skin of the fuselage. The airplane is 27 feet, 0 inches long (8.230 meters) with a wingspan of 31 feet, 9 inches (9.677 meters) and height of 8 feet (2.438 meters). (A second set of wings with a span of 25 feet (7.6 meters) was used on Hughes’ World Speed Record ² flight, 13 September 1935.) The H-1 has an empty weight of 3,565 pounds (1,617 kilograms) and gross weight of 5,492 pounds (2,491 kilograms).
The H-1 was powered by an air-cooled, supercharged, 1,534.943-cubic-inch-displacement (25.153 liter) Pratt & Whitney Twin Wasp Jr., a two-row, fourteen-cylinder radial engine. Pratt & Whitney produced 18 civil and 22 military versions of the Twin Wasp Jr., in both direct drive and geared configurations, rated from 650 to 950 horsepower. It is not known which version powered the H-1, but various sources report that it was rated from 700 to 1,000 horsepower. The engine drove a two-bladed Hamilton Standard controllable-pitch propeller.
Hughes H-1 NX258Y, left front quarter, at Hughes Airport, Culver City, California. (Hughes Aircraft Company)Hughes H-1 NX258Y, right profile, at Hughes Airport, Culver City, California. (Hughes Aircraft Company)Hughes H-1 NX258Y. (Ray Wagner Collection, San Diego Air & Space Museum Archives)The Hughes Aircraft Co. H-1 Racer, NR258Y at the Smithsonian Institution National Air and Space Museum. (NASM)
¹ FAI Record File Number 13237: World Record for Speed Over a Recognized Course, 417.0 kilometers per hour (259.1 miles per hour)
² FAI Record File Number 8748: World Record for Speed Over a 3 Kilometer Course, 567.12 kilometers per hour (352.39 miles per hour)
