Arnold Alexander Hall
Arnold Alexander Hall | |
---|---|
Born | Liverpool, England | 23 April 1915
Died | 9 January 2000 Dorney, Berkshire, England | (aged 84)
Occupation | Engineer |
Spouse(s) | Moira Constance Dione Rathmell; Iola (Nealon) Hall |
Children | Caroline, Elizabeth and Veronica |
Engineering career | |
Projects | de Havilland Comet 1 |
Awards | Albert Medal (1983) |
Sir Arnold Alexander Hall
Early life
This section needs additional citations for verification. (November 2014) |
Hall was born in
Career
In 1938, Hall joined the staff of the
In 1951, he became Director of the
In March 1963, he became vice-chairman and managing director of the Hawker Siddeley Group and in July 1967, was elected chairman and managing director. In this capacity, he was Chairman of Hawker Siddeley Aviation Ltd, Hawker Siddeley Dynamics Ltd., Hawker Siddeley Diesels Ltd. (the Holding Company for Blackstone, Lister, Mirrlees National and Petters), Hawker Siddeley Electric Ltd. (the Holding Company for Brush Electrical Engineering, Fuller Electric and Crompton Parkinson), Hawker Siddeley Holdings Ltd. (the Holding Company for Gloster Saro, Thomas Green & Son, Saro Products, Hands Trailers, and Norstel & Templewood Hawksley), and High Duty Alloys Ltd.
He remained at Hawker Siddeley until it was absorbed into British Aerospace in 1977.[1]
Personal life
He was married twice, having three daughters (Caroline, Elizabeth and Veronica) with his first wife, and stepsons and stepdaughters from both marriages.[1]
Aeronautical engineering
In 1939 while Chief Superintendent of the RAE, in association with
During World War II, he designed gyroscopic gun-sights for D-day fighter aircraft, and the compressor for Frank Whittle's first jet engine. He was noted for chairing the committee investigating the various crashes involving the de Havilland Comet 1, which identified the design flaws responsible. He expanded the Hawker Siddeley group and chaired a Franco-British Concorde design group.[1]
Crash investigation
He led the RAE Farnborough team that eventually discovered the cause of several de Havilland Comet jet airliner crashes. Some of the methods pioneered during this investigation (such as wreckage reconstruction) were later widely copied throughout the aviation industry, and became standard practice internationally.
Honours
In 1953, Hall was made a Fellow of the
He served as President of the Royal Aeronautical Society from May 1958 to May 1959. He was elected a Fellow of the Society in 1946, was a former Council Member, and served as Vice-President in 1956. He was a Chartered Engineer.
In 1959, Hall received the Dutch Aero Club von Baumhauer Medal, which is awarded only every five years, for "his meritorious work on behalf of Aeronautical Science in general and particularly his outstanding contribution to the knowledge and understanding of the problems of fatigue in aircraft structures".
In 1962, he was awarded the Royal Aeronautical Society's Gold Medal, its highest honour. In January 1963, he was elected an Honorary Fellow of the Institute of Aerospace Sciences in the United States, q.n award given annually to two persons of eminence in aerospace technology. He was elected an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society in December 1965.
References
- ^ a b c d e "Sir Arnold Hall". The Guardian. 11 January 2000. Retrieved 14 April 2009.
- ^ Constance Babington Smith, Evidence in Camera p. 31–33
- ^ "Honorary Graduates 1966 to 1988 | University of Bath". Archived from the original on 25 May 2016. Retrieved 27 February 2012.
External links
- "Today's Research for Tomorrow's Transports" a 1955 lecture by Hall in Flight