Simviation Forums

Thanks Mark, interesting article, there was something on the news about him just the other day...

From You Only Live Twice: Little Nellie (the code word for Bond's autogyro) - certainly one of the best scenes from that great 007 movie.

He had a good innings.

I used to watch his first gyrocopter experiments at Shoreham in the evenings when the airfield was closed. Those were good days. Note the lack of fences round the airfield. http://www.britishpathe.com/video/air-news-shoreham-aka-home-made-gyrocopter-is-big/query/Vivky

Thanks for the Link Doug and I got to agree, yes they were the good old days...

I had the privilege of visiting his home at Reymerston Hall twice; on the latter occassion in October last year, being able to take some of my students.

The words "legend" and "genius" are often overused, but could fairly be applied to him. His home was a treasure trove: a shed full of his autogyros, his pre-Scalextric slot car system, micro pistols, German bomb aiming equipment and B-36 bits; another shed for making rotor blades, storing his pair of unused Bristol Centaurus (Centauri?) engines and numerous boats (alongside a mast he'd made using Guinness cans to test adhesives IIRC!). His house itself, not just full of his FAI certificates and memorabilia, but also with a suspension system to balance autogyro frames and walls removed to build more rotor blades!.

Thankfully, being of such an age, the survival of his collection in the event of his death has been arranged for some years, so hopefully most, if not all, his treasures can be saved for future generations.