George Edwards (aviation)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Sir George Robert Edwards, OM, CBE, FRS, DL (9 July 1908 – 2 March 2003), was a British aircraft designer and industrialist.

Edwards was born in Highams Park, England. Beginning as a design draughtsman, in 1945 he became the Chief Designer of the Vickers-Armstrong team that produced the Viking, Valetta, Varsity, Viscount and Valiant. He later became Managing Director of the company, supervising the development of the Vanguard, VC-10 and TSR-2. He was knighted in 1957. He was President of the Royal Aeronautical Society in 1957-8.

When the company was merged into the newly created British Aircraft Corporation, he became Executive Director. During this period, he initiated the BAC One Eleven. BAC was also a partner in the international projects for Concorde (for which he led the British team), Jaguar and the Panavia Tornado. He was made a member of the Order of Merit in 1971, and was awarded the Royal Medal in 1974 for his distinguished contributions in the applied sciences. He retired from BAC, as Chairman, in 1975. In 1989 he was invested in the International Aerospace Hall of Fame.

His interests included painting and cricket. He served as President of Surrey County Cricket Club in 1979. He died in Guildford.

[edit] References

Gardner, Robert. From Bouncing Bombs to Concorde: The Authorised Biography of Aviation Pioneer Sir George Edwards OM, Sutton Publishing. 2006. ISBN 0-7509-4389-0

[edit] External links

• Brief biography
• His connections with cricket