Sir James Arnot Hamilton ~ aircraft designer
PENICUIK GREATS exhibitions in
The new Academy (now
High speed Gloster 1929 LNER
streamlined locomotives linked
Flying Boats from Imperial Airways services to the
Early Years
On completing his school education in
Midlothian James Hamilton attended the
Short Sunderlands then and
now. As they circle and land, their huge form and graceful but lumbering
flight is awe-inspiring.
American-designed
PB2Y Coronados
a Float Spitfire
Towards
the end of the war in Europe a specification was sent to the Morris Furniture
company in Glasgow by the Ministry of Aircraft Production on behalf of the
Marine Aircraft Experimental Establishment at Helensburgh. Morris were to
deliver three prototypes models by road to Felixstowe.
The first, which appears to have been a one-third scale model, had the small
tail characteristic of Saunders Roe types. The latter two Morris model
prototypes had the high slab tail as found on production aircraft. The model
fuselage had a model engine bay for the Beryl engines as found on the
production aircraft. The clear value of such combat aircraft in the Pacific
war against
Much
later, both Dennys and Saunders-Roe took part in
developing the hovercraft.
An Expert in Flight
James
Hamilton’s aptitude in understanding the characteristics of diving and flight
had been recognized in his appointment as Head of Flight Research when the
Marine Aircraft Experimental Establishment returned to its prewar base at Felixstowe in 1945. He was there for seven years before
moving to the Royal Aircraft Establishment Farnborough in 1952 to research the
aerodynamics of high-speed flight. An
important role of the RAE in the 1950s was the investigation of the early
crashes of Comet airliners and the lessons then learned about structural design
and metal fatigue. As the decade progressed, financial constraints intensified.
Increasing international attention to the development of unmanned missiles made
it clear that the political appetite for high speed combat aircraft was waning
and a number of promising and not so promising projects were cancelled. Among the projects that failed to gain
acceptance was a 1962 proposal for a supersonic jet trainer and light tactical
strike aircraft.
Jaguar
With so much
at stake, choosing the right projects for British aircraft development was
vital. In 1964 James Hamilton became Head of new Project Assessment at
RAE. Soon after the
prospect of a collaborative programme with
Concorde
Co-ordinated work on a British supersonic airliner had begun
as far back as 1956. After prolonged design and testing, there was an agreement
to share development with
James Hamilton had specialised
in wing design, and the wing for the supersonic Concorde was the peak of his
achievement. In some ways it fulfilled
ideas first sketched out by Roy Chadwick in his 1947 long-range jet proposals
for the Manchester-based Avro company.
Avro’s Roy Chadwick
pioneered designs for the Vulcan bomber and Avro
Atlantic Jetliner in 1947. He crashed later that year.
The ultra slim delta wing on Concorde gives the
appearance of total simplicity. But probably no other part of the aircraft had
so much time and attention given to its design. On a traditional wing there can
be well over 50 moveable parts to control and trim the aircraft and complex
flaps and leading edge slats to generate extra lift at slower speeds. Concorde
has none of this. The Concorde delta wing only has 6 trailing edge "elevons" to control the pitch and roll of the
aircraft.
James Hamilton was an expert in the
practicalities of design for high speed flight. As flying speeds have
increased, more "sweepback" has been seen in wing designs. The slender
delta wing on Concorde takes this a step further. Looked at head-on, the
Concorde wing does not just sweep back by 55 degrees,
it twists and droops, apparently simple yet very complex in reality.
This design gives Concorde lift at low speeds
by increasing the angle of attack of the wing. And it gives efficiency at high
speeds during the supersonic cruise where the delta wing's long chord, narrow
profile and short span generates very little drag.
On a traditional aircraft wing a swirling
vortex forms only at the wing tips. On a delta wing at low speeds and a high
angle of attack, the vortex forms along the entire wing surface, giving the
lift required for reliable take off and landing. Over 5000 hours of wind-tunnel
testing were carried out to modify camber, droop and twist, to ensure the wing
surface vortex would be a stable and dependable source of lift. As the delta
wing gets closer to the ground, the downwash of air creates a cushion and
landing is made very smooth even though the plane descends at much higher
speed.
Delivering
Concorde was an immensely complicated logistical, management, design and human
relations exercise and there were many vitally important contributors,
including Morien Morgan, Director of the Royal Aircraft
Establishment, and John Hawkins of Alcan who helped
to develop the heat resistant alloys required for high-temperature supersonic
flight.
The Civil Servant
After the success of the Concorde project, Sir
James moved into government, becoming Deputy Secretary for Aerospace in the
Department of Trade and Industry between 1971 and 1973. Here, with his Minister for Aviation Supply
and Aerospace Frederick Corfield, he oversaw the
cancellation of the Black Arrow rocketry programme
and provided financial help to Rolls-Royce (whose Filton,
Bristol factory was in Corfield’s constituency) when
it ran into difficulties that hampered its defence
commitments. The assistance included the nationalisation
of the strategically significant aero-engine part of RR. He also oversaw from government the first
full scale roll-out of Concorde.
In 1973 James Hamilton moved to the Cabinet
Office as Deputy Secretary under John Hunt, serving first under Prime Minister
Heath and then during Harold Wilson’s last administration. From May 1976 until May 1983 he moved to head
the Department of Education and Science as Permanent Secretary.
Industry and Education
On retiring from government service Sir James
Hamilton took up a series of positions in the aerospace industry and related
business. He was a Director of the
Hawker-Siddeley Group from 1983 to 1991; of Smiths
Industries from 1984 to 1994 and of Devonport Royal Dockyard from 1987 to
1997. In 1992 Sir James was executive
member of the steering group studying the organisation
of the engineering profession in the
Sir James was Vice-chairman of the Council of University
College, London from 1985-1999, President of the Foundation for Educational
Research 1983-1999, a Trustee of the Natural History Museum from 1984 until
1988, Vice-president of Reading University Council 1983-95 and President of the
Association for Science Education 1985-86. He has also served as a member of
the Advisory Board of the
2010 community
proposal to purchase and save the building where this exhibition was first
shown: www.makers.org.uk/place/penicuikheritage
more PENICUIK OPEN HOUSE exhibitions
ROGER KELLY