Joseph Summers holds the current second place record for 366 general types tested, below Eric "Winkle" Brown's 487.
23 Facts About Joseph Summers
1.
2.
Joseph Summers received his nickname "Mutt" during his early days in the RAF from his habit of urinating before takeoff on the small rear wheel or skid of the aircraft he was testing.
3.
Joseph Summers did this because he was aware that during some crashes a full bladder could prove fatal.
4.
Joseph Summers passed out from RAF Digby in 1924 and was posted to No 29 Fighter Squadron, equipped with Snipes and later with Gloster Grebes.
5.
Joseph Summers flew for five years at the Royal Aircraft Establishment at Martlesham Heath, including periods on loan to Blackburn Aircraft and Avro.
6.
Joseph Summers left his post at Martlesham in May, 1929, and the following month joined Vickers Aviation Ltd, as its chief test pilot.
7.
Joseph Summers flew the prototype of Barnes Wallis's geodetic aircraft the Vickers Wellesley bomber in June 1935.
8.
Joseph Summers flew the prototype Wellington bomber, K4049, with Wallis and Trevor Westbrook aboard, at Brooklands on 15 June 1936.
9.
Shortly before the Second World War, Joseph Summers was succeeded by Jeffrey Quill, his assistant and protege, who took over testing single-seater prototypes during the war.
10.
Joseph Summers became a supervising RAF fighter tester specifically for No 11 Group RAF, commanded by Air Vice Marshal Keith Park, during the Battle of Britain.
11.
Also pilots were issued requisition tickets for a new aircraft if Joseph Summers found an aircraft to be unserviceable.
12.
At 1,500 feet Joseph Summers noticed a problem with the engine when accelerating to a certain speed.
13.
The prop ripped off the cowling and as Joseph Summers had no parachute with him it was necessary to glide the plane back to the air field.
14.
In preparation for the Dambusters Raid in May 1943, Joseph Summers was test pilot for the experimental bouncing bomb dropped from a Vickers Wellington near Portland, Dorset, a job given to him by close friend Barnes Wallis.
15.
Joseph Summers was depicted by Patrick Barr in the film made of the events.
16.
Joseph Summers experienced a number of accidents and crashes during his career.
17.
Joseph Summers had released his harness and was on the centre section when the machine stopped rotating and went into a dive, enabling him to regain control by pushing the stick with his foot.
18.
Joseph Summers had no alternative but to crash-land the aircraft into an avenue of trees, with a ploughed field at the end.
19.
Joseph Summers numbered among his firsts the first flight of a pure jet civil aircraft on 6 April 1948, the first flight of civil turboprop airliner on 16 July 1948 and the initial flight of Britain's first four-jet bomber on 18 May 1951.
20.
Joseph Summers still holds the world record of 54 "Prototype First Flights".
21.
Joseph Summers married Dulcie Jeanette Belcher in 1922 in Sculcoates, Yorkshire.
22.
Joseph Summers died on 16 March 1954 from complications during colon surgery, six days after his 50th birthday.
23.
Joseph Summers was buried in Weybridge Cemetery, Surrey after a ceremony in Westminster Abbey.