Arthur Hessell Tiltman FRAeS (1891 – 28 October 1975), known as Hessell Tiltman, was a notable British aircraft designer, and co-founder of Airspeed Ltd.
He graduated in engineering from London University, then served an apprenticeship with the Daimler Co in 1910-11 and worked on structural steel design in Canada (the Quebec bridge) and England.
In 1916 he joined Geoffrey de Havilland’s company Airco; then moved to the De Havilland Aircraft Company when it was formed in 1921. As assistant designer he was involved in the design and testing of a number of DH aircraft, from the small DH 60 Moth to the DH 66 Hercules airliner.
He then worked on the R100 airship with Nevil Shute Norway. Norway and Tiltman formed Airspeed Ltd in 1931, where he designed several basic aircraft like the Airspeed Oxford the standard RAF twin engined trainer, and pioneered now-standard items like the retractable undercarriage, self sealing fuel tanks and in-flight refuelling. He designed about 15 different types of aircraft including the Horsa glider which, required to carry troops for the second front, went from the drawing board to the air in ten months; which he said was “not too bad considering the drawings had to be made suitable for the furniture trade who were responsible for all production".
He left Airspeed soon after, and in 1948 co-founded Tiltman Langley, of which he was Technical Director and Chairman for six years.
Death Notice & Obituary: The Times, 1 & 4 November 1975.