Frederick Page

From his mid-teens Page had ambitions to design aircraft, but it was not a dream of the marvels of flight that motivated him, instead it was the recognition that aircraft design was the most rapidly advancing of all the branches of engineering and therefore a field in which new things could he created.[3] After graduating in 1938 he joined Hawker Aircraft at Kingston upon Thames working under Sydney Camm.[2] As his career at Hawkers developed he was increasingly asked to help solve difficult problems. The Typhoon was subject to severe propeller-induced vibration and to counter this Page developed anti-vibration mountings for the engine and a sprung seat for the pilot.[4] But it was in the aerodynamics and control of the Tempest that he made major contributions.

The Tempest fighter was to be designed to incorporate a laminar flow wing, and the shape of the aerofoil section would be critical in minimizing the effect of air compressibility at 500 m.p.h. On his own initiative he developed a method to predict the pressure distribution over the wing using mathematical formulae to describe the shape of the wing section combined with a solution of air compressibility equations. These were calculated using the only available tools of the time, an eight-digit mechanical desk calculator and a very large slide rule. When tested these compared well with results from a small wind tunnel in the US, and it was concluded that the maximum thickness should be moved back to 40% of the chord.[4]

His other innovation was the design of a spring-tab system for the Tempest ailerons to improve the rate of roll in combat. It worked perfectly and was patented. This design of spring tabs later formed an important element of the Canberra. [4] [5]

By 1944 Page was one of Hawker's senior aerodynamicists.[6] In October he met Teddy Petter who was recruiting a design team for English Electric to develop a jet powered replacement for the Mosquito to specification B1/44 (later to become the Canberra). Their second meeting was at dinner in Kingston. When the meal was over, Petter brought out a set of drawings which were too big for the table and the two got down on hands and knees crawled over the design and started its analysis.[7] Petter offered the position of chief stressman to Page who accepted under the following conditions; as well as stress, he wanted to be in charge of weight balancing, structural and mechanical testing, he wanted all drawings to be routed through the stress office. Also, based on his experience at Hawkers it was agreed he could make suggestions on aerodynamic design. During these discussions Page was openly critical of Westland and Petter's designs such as the Whirlwind and Welkin. However, despite this Page received his letter of appointment in April 1945.[8]

Petter's original B1/44 concept used a pair of Metrovick centrifugal engines mounted in the fuselage.[9] Page was certain that to obtain the required high performance, the weapons load and fuel would have to be carried in the fuselage, and that this would need two wing mounted engines. [10]Page's influence on the Canberra design was such that although the overall concept was Petter's, much of the radical thinking underlying it, such as the undercarriage design and the spring tab control surfaces, was Page's, driven by his meticulous scientific analysis. [11][12] He guided the structural design so successfully that by the first flight in May 1949 the weight was actually 0.5% less than the original estimate.[4]Prior to this he had worked closely with Petter in building the design team; concerning Roland Beamont's lack of engineering qualifications, Page had pointed out they would "have plenty of good engineers but what was needed was a test pilot with operational experience" [13]

In the summer of 1948 English Electric started to develop a design proposal for a supersonic fighter under experimental research specification E.R.103 which would eventually become the Lightning. Page was assigned to lead the design with Ray Creasey responsible for the aerodynamics.[14] By July 1948 their proposal incorporated the stacked engine configuration, a high mounted tail plane, but was designed for Mach 1.5 and a consequence it had a conventional 40° degree swept wing.[15] This proposal was submitted in the November [16] and in January 1949 the project was designated P.1 by English Electric.[17] On 29 March 1949 MoS granted approval for English Electric to start the detailed design, develop wind tunnel models and build a full size mock up. The design that had developed during 1948 evolved further during 1949.[18][14] To achieve Mach 2 the wing sweep was increased to 60° with the ailerons moved to the wing tips and later (after wind tunnel tests) the height of the tail plane was lowered.[19]

By early 1950 the relationship between the Preston manufacturing works (led by Arthur Sheffield) and the Warton design team had deteriorated. With the demanding P1 Lightning programme ramping up, Petter demanded more autonomy for Warton as a condition of his continued service with English Electric. However, Sir George Nelson (English Electric's managing director) was unable to reach a compromise acceptable to both Petter and Sheffield. Page tried to persuade Petter to stay on with a promise to assist Petter in fighting Arthur Sheffield's establishment,[20] but from December 1949 Petter ceased to take an active part in the team and Page took over the day-to-day management. At the end of 1949 Petter only appeared once again at Warton to speak to a few people and clear his office,[21] until in February 1950 Petter resigned and Page was formally appointed his successor.[22]

After Petter left, the stress of re-establishing the Warton organisation, while maintaining tight control of the Canberra development and the P1 design resulted in period of ill health for Page. During this illness, key members of the team rallied round keeping the vital activities on schedule until he recovered.[22]

He was appointed CBE in 1961, and knighted in 1979. He became a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering in 1977 and was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1978.[23]

British Aerospace was formed by the merger of BAC, Hawker Siddeley and Scottish Aviation. He became chairman and chief executive from 1977 until 1982, when he retired. Key projects in BAC and later BAe were three supersonic strike aircraft of great penetrability, the experimental TSR.2 (1964) and the multi-national Jaguar (1968) and Tornado IDS (1974), both with an excellent combat record.

• Barfield, Norman (2009) [2004]. "Sir Frederick William Page (1917–2005), aircraft designer and industrialist". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/95849. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
• Beamont, Roland; Reed, Arthur (1984). English Electric Canberra. Ian Allan Ltd. ISBN 0-7110-1343-8.
• Davies, Glyn (2014). From Lysander to Lightning Teddy Petter, aircraft designer. The History Press. ISBN 9780752492117.
• "Profile: F.W. Page Leader of the P1 design team". New Scientist (24): 27–28. 2 May 1957.
• Ransom, Stephen; Fairclough, Robert (1987). English Electric Aircraft and their Predecessors. Putnam. ISBN 0-85177-806-2.
• Yates, I. R. (2006). "Sir Frederick William Page CBE FREng. 20 February 1917 -- 29 May 2005: Elected FRS 1978". Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society. 52: 231–250. doi:10.1098/rsbm.2006.0017.