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Newsletter 22
Autumn 2008
Updated on 11N2008
Published by the Hawker Association
for the Members.
Contents © Hawker Association

Contents
Editorial
BAE Systems Facts
Conrad Southey 'Peter' John
Dunsfold Development
Eggheads News
Forgotten Aircrew
Hawk News
Hawkers Build At Kingston
Hunter 'Flying Club'
Hunter News
Hurricane News
Joint Force Harrier
Lighter-Than-Air VTOL
Members
More about the P.1129
P.1127 to Harrier
Programme
RAF Club Camm Memorial
Red Arrows Petition
Sea fury News
Sopwith's First Designer
Wings & Wheels
Thanks to Mike Pryce for discovering an article in a 1960 'Flight' magazine by Wg Cdr Norman Macmillan OBE, MC, AFC, who uncovered the story of Herbert Smith by actually interviewing him.
    Smith took a Diploma in Engineering at the Bradford Technical College then spent three years in a workshop and one in a drawing office before joining the Bristol Aeroplane Company as a draughtsman. He moved to the Sopwith Aviation Company as a draughtsman in March 1914 and stayed there until the liquidation in October 1920.
    When he first joined Sopwiths they had no designer. The Chief Draughtsman, Mr Ashfield, had been a school teacher and carried out instructions from Sopwith, Sigrist and Hawker. These three were largely responsible for the 1 1/2 Strutter, the Pup and the Camel, the last two being derivatives of their pre-war Tabloid. Smith believed that nearly all the pre-1914 aircraft were produced from full scale chalk drawings on the shop floor, a 'lofting' procedure he had seen in operation.
    
Herbert smith - Sopwith's First Designer

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    When he joined Sopwiths they were building the Bat Boat and a floatplane with 200 hp Canton Unne engines. In November 1914 Herbert Smith took complete charge of new design, as distinct from developments of existing types, and was responsible for the Triplane, the Snipe, the Salamander, the Buffalo and the Dolphin as well as many other types, such as the Snark and Cobham bomber, which were not produced in numbers.
    After the 1920 liquidation Herbert Smith went to Japan as designer to Mitsubishi, where he produced designs based on his Sopwith Cuckoo, returning to England in 1924.Story continue