Wilfred George Carter
(Wilfred) George Carter C.B.E., F.R.Ae.S., military aircraft designer, involved in the earliest designs of jet aircraft.
1889 Born in Bedford[1]
Trained in engineering
1911 George Alfred Carter 50, joiner, lived in Bedford, with Bertha Ellen Carter 42, Wilfred George Carter 22, draughtsman, Madge O Dell 29, sister in law, Gladys Isabell Carter 19[2]
WWI Joined Sopwith Aviation Co
By 1916 had become chief draughtsman for the company
1919 Joined I Mech E as Associate[3]
1920 Chief designer of the successor company H. G. Hawker Engineering Co. One of his designs was the Hawker Horsley. Sydney Camm was one of his juniors
1924-28 Special design work for Short Brothers. One of his designs was the Short Crusader for the Schneider Trophy.
1931 Joined Gloster Aircraft Co, initially to work on the D.H.72 bomber which they had taken over from De Havilland
1936 Appointed chief designer
Late 1930s he met Frank Whittle.
Carter's entreprise and initiative enabled him to win over the sceptics in the company concerning jet propulsion which led to Gloster's work on the E28/39 and the Meteor
1939 Carter saw the prototype Whittle engine in operation for the first time
1939 Wilfred G Carter, aircraft designer, lived in Gloucester with Hilda Carter, Wilfred M Carter[4]
1940 The Air Ministry contracted Gloster to design and build the E28/39.
1949 Appointed Technical Director of Gloster Aircraft Co
1954 Retired from the Gloster company but continued as a technical consultant
1969 Died at age of 79
See Also
Sources of Information
- Flight 13 March 1969
- Flight 27 October 1949