33-480: Air Commodore Sir Henry Nigel St Valery Norman, 2nd Baronet , CBE (21 May 1897 – 19 May 1943) was a consulting civil engineer and Royal Air Force officer during the first half of the 20th century. Nigel Norman was the only child of journalist and travel writer Henry Norman , and novelist Ménie Muriel Dowie . Following officer training at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst , he served as
66-680: A subaltern with the Royal Garrison Artillery during the First World War . He later transferred to the Royal Corps of Signals . In 1926, Norman married Patricia Moyra, eldest daughter of the late Lieutenant Colonel J.H.A. Annesley. During that year, Norman volunteered for reserve service as a pilot with No. 601 (County of London) Squadron in the Auxiliary Air Force , and he later assumed duties as
99-534: A complete generator set. They were also employed in oil rigs and pumping sets.(Ref TJ151/2). When the company was formed it also included the motor car companies Armstrong Siddeley Motors and Bristol Cars . It was soon decided to stop production of Armstrong Siddeley cars, as it was becoming uneconomic, with production of the only product, the Star Sapphire, ending in July 1960. In September 1960 Bristol Cars
132-468: A disc-webbed crankshaft that ran in large roller bearings , telescopic pipes to deliver cooling oil to the pistons and detachable piston crowns. The MD engines produced by BSEL included 16 basic engines in the range, which covered powers from 380 to 3,000 horsepower, and includes 4- and 6-cylinder in-line units, and 8, 12 and 16 V units. Each of these were pressure-charged, with or without intercooling. They were used with hydraulic transmission systems, in
165-617: A flight commander. In 1928, Norman co-founded Airwork Services with Alan Muntz . In 1929, the company opened Heston Aerodrome that was active in private, commercial and military aviation until closure in 1947. In 1931, he was appointed Officer Commanding of No. 601 Squadron. In 1934, he transferred to the Auxiliary Air Force Reserve of Officers in the rank of squadron leader . He later commanded No. 110 Army Co-operation Wing based at RAF Ringway . In 1935, in partnership with architect Graham Dawbarn , Norman founded
198-544: A ground starter unit in the British services. Bristol Siddeley was bought by Rolls-Royce Limited in 1966 for £63.6 million in order to prevent competition from a planned collaboration between BSEL, Pratt & Whitney and Snecma . Bristol Siddeley retained its own identity and marketing organization. Bristol Siddeley Engines Limited is still a listed but dormant company within the Rolls-Royce group. The company
231-598: A proficient parachutist. When he got back, he went on a parachute course. He distinguished himself in Operation Biting , the raid by British parachute troops on the coast of northern France in March 1942, when the radio location post at Bruneval , 12 miles north of Le Havre , was destroyed. It was a combined operation, the carrying force of R.A.F. bombers under Norman's command and led by Wing Commander P. C. Pickard . Norman's final appointment came in 1942, when he
264-568: A unit or formation. It is designed to strengthen the bond between the military unit and the individual and promote the role of the air force amongst the public. Serving officers may be granted an equivalent appointment to the honorary rank. In such cases the individual is made an honorary air commandant and they retain their regular rank. Larger air force organisations or formations may be honoured by having an air commodore-in-chief appointed in their name. These RAF appointments are rare and to date (2020) have been given to just five senior members of
297-553: Is immediately senior to group captain and immediately subordinate to air vice-marshal . It is usually equivalent to a commodore or a brigadier / brigadier general . The equivalent rank in the Women's Auxiliary Air Force , Women's Royal Air Force (until 1968) and Princess Mary's Royal Air Force Nursing Service (until 1980) was "air commandant". The rank was used in the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) until
330-475: The British Army on developing airborne troops . Norman controlled the air side of the first British paratroop raid on Italy shortly after it entered the war. He not only arranged all the details, but took a personal interest in all the numerous training exercises before the raid, and accompanied the paratroops on the expedition, returning regretfully, he said, in an aircraft, as he was not at that time
363-574: The British Army , with officers at what is now air commodore holding the rank of brigadier-general . In response to the proposal that the RAF should use its own rank titles, it was suggested that the RAF might use the Royal Navy's officer ranks , with the word "air" inserted before the naval rank title. Although the Admiralty objected to this simple modification of their rank titles, it was agreed that
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#1732791634034396-578: The Hawker Siddeley Group . The share capital of Bristol Siddeley was held in equal proportions by these two parent organisations. At around the same time Bristol's aircraft manufacturing was being subsumed into the British Aircraft Corporation along with those of English Electric and Vickers-Armstrong . Armstrong Siddeley Motors had been producing aero-engines and motor-cars since it had been formed in 1919 with
429-580: The Hawker Siddeley HS.125 . Bristol Siddeley had under development another vectored thrust turbofan, the "plenum chamber burner" (similar to an afterburner) equipped BS100 , which was intended for the supersonic Hawker Siddeley P.1154 VSTOL fighter, but the project was cancelled in 1965. The two shaft BS143 was proposed for the MRCA (later the Tornado), but the takeover by RR caused the adoption of
462-862: The Olympus two-spool turbojet (from which the engine for Concorde was developed), the Orpheus turbojet for the Folland Gnat light fighter/trainer aircraft, the Pegasus two shaft medium bypass ratio vectored thrust turbofan for the Hawker Siddeley P.1127 /Kestrel/Harrier VSTOL ground attack aircraft, the Proteus turboprop for the Bristol Britannia airliner and the Viper turbojet for
495-632: The Roundhouse Trust . Air Commodore Air commodore ( Air Cdre or Air Cmde ) is a air officer rank used by some air forces, with origins from the Royal Air Force . The rank is also used by the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence and it is sometimes used as the English translation of an equivalent rank in countries which have a non-English air force-specific rank structure. Air commodore
528-558: The air officer commanding . However, during the inter-war period, and in the case of the contemporary No. 83 Expeditionary Air Group , the air officer commanding held or holds air commodore rank. In the Air Training Corps , an appointed air commodore holds ultimate authority over the cadet organisation as the Commandant Air Cadets . On 1 April 1918, the newly created RAF adopted its officer rank titles from
561-582: The 1968 unification of the Canadian Forces , when army-type rank titles were adopted. Canadian air commodores then became brigadier-generals . In official Canadian French usage, the rank title was commodore de l'air . The position of honorary air commodore still exists in the Royal Canadian Air Cadets . In the present-day RAF, air commodores typically hold senior appointments within groups , acting directly in support of
594-467: The RAF might base many of its officer rank titles on Navy officer ranks with differing pre-modifying terms. It was also suggested that air-officer ranks could be based on the term "ardian", which was derived from a combination of the Gaelic words for "chief" ( ard ) and "bird" ( eun ), with the term "fourth ardian" or "flight ardian" being used for the equivalent to brigadier-general and commodore. However,
627-661: The Type 4 locos (with two MD650 engines of 1,152 bhp each) hauled the express trains of the Western Region of British Railways - e.g. the Bristolian and the Cornish Riviera . Several hundred more orders were placed by British Rail.(Ref TJ102). MD series engines were widely used in base load, intermittent and standby electricity generating sets, and were transported by rail up to the nominal 1200 kW size for
660-734: The aero engine field in 1934 when the Cirrus-Hermes Engineering Company became part of the Blackburn and this became the Engine Division of Blackburn Aircraft and subsequently Blackburn Engines Limited. In 1952 an agreement was signed which enabled Blackburn Engines Limited to produce engines based on the Turbomeca range of small gas turbine engines. These were developed for use as airborne auxiliary power units for large aircraft and they were also used as
693-520: The aero-engine industry. The de Havilland Engine Company Limited had the de Havilland Sprite which was a rocket engine with a military type test certificate. In 1954, the company had produced the axial turbojet Gyron of 30,000 lbf (130 kN) thrust, from which was descended the Gyron Junior series. The de Havilland Engine Company's portfolio included the (licensed) Gnome turboshaft . The Blackburn Aeroplane and Motor Company had entered
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#1732791634034726-453: The centre and is rectangular with a cut-away section giving it two tails. It is the only RAF command flag of this shape and it is similar in shape to that of a Royal Navy commodore's broad pennant . The vehicle star plate for an air commodore depicts a single white star (air commodore is equivalent to a one-star rank) on an air force blue background. RAF air commodores are classed as air officers and as such have two rows of gold oak leaves on
759-492: The company was expanded by the purchase of the de Havilland Engine Company and the engine division of Blackburn Aircraft . Bristol Siddeley was purchased by Rolls-Royce Limited in 1966. Bristol Siddeley Engines Limited was formed by the 1 April 1959 merge of Bristol Aero-Engines and Armstrong Siddeley Motors . These were the aero engine manufacturing companies of the Bristol Aeroplane Company and
792-639: The consultancy firm of Norman and Dawbarn , responsible for designs of buildings and lay-outs of many municipal airports in the UK and overseas, including those at Gatwick , Birmingham , Ringway , Jersey , and Guernsey . In 1939, Norman succeeded as 2nd Baronet. In 1940, Norman commanded the Central Landing Establishment based at RAF Ringway. From the early days of the Second World War , he worked in close collaboration with
825-735: The merger of Siddeley-Deasy and the Armstrong Whitworth Company . Bristol Aero-Engines had been formed in 1920 when the Bristol Aeroplane Company had taken over the assets of the Cosmos Engineering Company . On 6 May 1958 Bristol Siddeley Engines Limited was formed as a pilot company to bring about an alliance between the Bristol and Coventry concerns, and a full merger took effect from the beginning of April 1959. The purpose of
858-662: The new company was to combine the research, engineering and manufacturing resources of the two great component companies to meet the changing demands of the aviation industry. The company was further strengthened in November 1961 when it acquired the full share capital of the de Havilland Engine Company Limited and Blackburn Engines Limited , both of which were formerly operating within the Hawker Siddeley Group. The aircraft side of Blackburn became part of Hawker Siddeley. Both of these companies had long histories in
891-412: The peak of their service dress hats. The reigning monarch may appoint honorary air commodores for RAF flying squadrons and stations. For example, King Charles III is RAF Valley 's honorary air commodore and Winston Churchill was 615 Squadron 's honorary air commodore. As the title suggests, this is an honorary position bestowed by the reigning monarch and it does not grant the recipient command of
924-534: The rank title based on the Navy rank was preferred and air commodore was adopted in August 1919. The rank insignia is a light-blue band on a broad black band worn on both the lower sleeves of the tunic or on the shoulders of the flying suit or the casual uniform. On the mess uniform , air commodores wear a broad gold ring on both lower sleeves. The command flag of an air commodore has one narrow red band running through
957-517: The royal family, of whom three were reigning or future monarchs of the United Kingdom. Air commodore-in-chief is not a rank and such an appointment does not convey the rank of air commodore upon the recipient. Bristol Siddeley Bristol Siddeley Engines Ltd ( BSEL ) was a British aero engine manufacturer. The company was formed in 1959 by a merger of Bristol Aero-Engines Limited and Armstrong Siddeley Motors Limited . In 1961
990-1051: The three shaft RB199 instead. Hypersonics were explored in a shock tube near the High Altitude Test Plant (HATP) at Bristol, in support of BS1012 hypersonic engine thinking. High supersonic ramjets for long range defensive missiles were tested in the HATP (Ref TJ102 and TJ151/2). Bristol Siddeley also manufactured diesel engines under licence from the German company Maybach . These were for installation in British Rail Class 42 and Class 52 locomotives which were themselves based on licensed German designs but with as much British-built content as possible. The Maybach Diesel (MD) MD650, MD655 and MD870 series engines built by Bristol Siddeley were sophisticated in design, running at much higher speeds than normal diesels of their size and featured advanced construction such as
1023-471: Was also chairman of the Design and Construction Panel. Norman's eldest of three sons was Mark Annesley, born on 8 February 1927, who succeeded him as third baronet. Mark Norman worked for Bristol Siddeley Engines as company secretary. Nigel Norman's second son was Desmond Norman , co-founder of the aircraft manufacturer Britten Norman . Torquil Norman , third of Sir Nigel's sons, founded Bluebird Toys and
Nigel Norman - Misplaced Pages Continue
1056-772: Was appointed Air Officer Commanding No. 38 Wing . On 19 May 1943, Norman died in the post-crash fire when Lockheed Hudson IIIA FH168 that was to carry him to North Africa force-landed after takeoff from RAF St Eval . Norman was a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society , a member of the Aviation Committee of the London Chamber of Commerce, and a member of the Council of the Air Registration Board, of which body he
1089-603: Was one of the largest of its kind in the world and offered a wider range of engines than any other manufacturer. Aero engines produced by the company included piston engines, turboprops, turboshafts, turbojets, turbofans, auxiliary power units, ramjets and liquid propellant rocket engines. Outside the aeronautical field its products were gas turbines for marine and industrial use, diesel engines, and automatic transmissions. The Patchway factory in South Gloucestershire produced military aeroplane engines including
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