19 Facts About Sydney Camm

Sir Sydney Camm, CBE, FRAeS was an English aeronautical engineer who contributed to many Hawker aircraft designs, from the biplanes of the 1920s to jet fighters.

In 1908 Sydney Camm left school to become an apprentice carpenter.

Shortly before the start of World War I Sydney Camm obtained a position as a shop-floor carpenter at the Martinsyde aircraft company which was located at the Brooklands racing circuit in Weybridge, Surrey.

In November 1923 Sydney Camm joined the Hawker Aircraft Company based at Canbury Park Road in Kingston upon Thames as a senior draughtsman.

In 1925, in association with Fred Sigrist, Hawker's managing director, Sydney Camm developed a form of metal construction that used jointed tubes as a cheaper and simpler alternative to welded structures.

Sydney Camm then moved on to designing aeroplanes that would become mainstays of the RAF in the Second World War including the Hawker Hurricane, Hawker Typhoon and Hawker Tempest.

The engineering of the aircraft to travel at higher speeds and handle compressibility effects was one of the challenges of the day, but with his small design team of one hundred members at Hawker, Sydney Camm managed to solve these problems and make the Typhoon an effective combat weapon even at these speeds.

Sydney Camm recommended that they keep the existing design of the Typhoon for the most part, with modifications to the aerofoil.

Sydney Camm considered the new and powerful Napier Sabre and Bristol Centaurus engines as the powerplant.

Sydney Camm decided that both engines would be used: the Tempest Mk 5 was fitted with the Napier Sabre, while the Tempest Mk 2 had the Bristol Centaurus.

Sydney Camm played a major role in determining these and other vital Harrier systems.

In 1953, Sydney Camm was knighted for these and other achievements and his contribution to British Aviation.

Sydney Camm worked on many aircraft built by Hawker before the Harrier, including what is probably his most significant aircraft after the Second World War, the Hawker Hunter.

Sydney Camm was knighted 2 June 1953, on the occasion of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II.

Sydney Camm was President of the Royal Aeronautical Society from 1954 to 1955.

Sydney Camm retired as chief designer at Hawker in 1965 and was succeeded by John Fozard.

In 1966, Sydney Camm was awarded the Guggenheim Gold Medal, which had to be presented posthumously.

Sydney Camm died in his 73rd year on 12 March 1966 whilst playing golf at the Richmond Golf Club.

Sydney Camm married Hilda Starnes in 1915 and they had a daughter in 1922.