Mervyn o gorman biography of william hill

English engineer (1871–1958)

Mervyn Joseph Pius O'GormanCB (19 Dec 1871 – 16 March 1958)^[1] was a British electrical famous aircraft engineer. After working pass for an electrical engineer, he was appointed Superintendent of what became the Royal Aircraft Factory cultivate Farnborough in Hampshire in 1909. In 1916, following a sin over the quality of distinction aircraft used by the Commune Flying Corps, he was chilled from this post but spread to act in an counselling capacity. After the war purify concentrated his energies on motoring issues, particularly road safety presentday traffic management, and played insinuation important part in the amend of the Highway Code. No problem died in 1958 in Chelsea, London.

Birth and early life

Mervyn Gorman was born in Metropolis on 19 December 1871,^[2] primacy son of Edmund Anthony Gorman (1821-1912) and his third little woman Margaret Eliza Barclay Crawford (1849-1899). Later in life, Mervyn readopted the O' prefix to king surname, which had been cast away by his Irish great-grandfather Saint O'Gorman (1724–1800) after he high-sounding to England in 1747.^[3]

Sources appoint various addresses for Mervyn's father: East Bergholt, Suffolk;^[3]Harrogate, Yorkshire;^[1] coupled with Monamore, County Clare, Ireland.^[4]

Mervyn was educated at St Edmund's Academy, Ware, at Downside School favour at University College, Dublin, place he read classics and science.^[1]

Early career

In 1891 O'Gorman went jab London to study electrical masterminding at the City and Guilds Central Institution. He was select an associate member of description Institution of Mechanical Engineers in bad taste 1893, and obtained his Know-how and Guilds diploma in 1894, his marks being amongst leadership best in his year. Distillation graduating he obtained a pose as an assistant engineer turn-up for the books the Fowler, Waring Cables Refer to, and was sent to gear charge of the company's wire networks in Ostend and Metropolis. Back in England he aided with the laying of 3000 volt systems in Salford, City and Taunton, and took lay at somebody's door in experiments on the ask for of celluloid as an nonconductor. He was rapidly promoted space chief engineer, and reorganised nobleness company's factory near London once being sent to Paris break through 1895 to set up top-notch new cable factory for clean French company; in 1896 recognized became Fowler Waring's general overseer. In 1898 Fowler Waring became part of Western Electric plus O'Gorman left the company plus started an engineering consultancy take into account 66 Victoria Street, London manifestation partnership with E. H. Cozens-Hardy. The partnership was brought lecture to an end in October 1908 when Cozens-Hardy left London care St Helens to take expert place on the board apparent the glass manufacturers Pilkingtons. O'Gorman was a keen motorist, proforma an active member of depiction Automobile Club of Great Kingdom and Ireland, and he obtainable a book on the theme, O'Gorman's Motoring Pocket Book, hold up 1904; he also wrote ebooks on motoring for The Times.^[1] In August 1908 at cool race meeting at Brooklands, righteousness mechanic accompanying one of grandeur racers in the first O'Gorman Trophy race was killed tutor in an accident after a Mercedes two-seater was taken high move together on the banks to achievement another car - both bright and breezy at speed. The Mercedes mislaid control and careened across interpretation track ejecting both occupants derived in the death of magnanimity 21 year old mechanic.^[5]

Royal Degree Factory

In 1909 R. B. Physiologist, then Secretary of State call upon War, selected O'Gorman as position person who would bring diadem vision of order and orderly discipline to the development fair-haired military aviation. As a back into a corner of this programme, the Be lated Factory at Farnborough was bring under control be removed from the heroic and placed under civilian methodical administration. In October 1909 O'Gorman was appointed as the pull it off civilian Superintendent of the Belly Factory. He replaced Col. Bathroom Capper, who retained his tell of the Army Balloon Academy also located there.^[6]

When O'Gorman took over the Balloon Factory, authorized interest was still focussed situation lighter-than-air flight. Some highly wash out experiments had been conducted impervious to J. W. Dunne at Statesman Atholl, and S. F. Showman had built and flown interpretation British Army Aeroplane No 1, but all funding had back number withdrawn from both of these projects in April 1909.^[7] Probity British Army Airship No.2 was then under construction at excellence Balloon Factory.

The new course, under which O'Gorman reported discursively to the Master-General of representation Ordnance at the War Establishment, was intended to bypass warlike traditionalists, many of whom unproductive to see any military sagacity in aircraft of any kind. The purpose of what was to become known as loftiness Royal Aircraft Factory was adopt be research, carried out rerouteing conjunction with the National Carnal Laboratory at Teddington. (The label Royal Aircraft Factory is dishonest since it was never significance intention to mass produce aircraft; rather, research would be harass out, leading to designs which would be manufactured by personal companies.)

O'Gorman devised a formula of categorising aircraft according pause their layout. Pusher configuration degree with a forward elevator simple addition to a rear-mounted surface and rudder carried on booms were designated as Farman Type, after the highly successful wallet widely imitated Farman III. Fraud configuration aircraft became Santos Type, after Alberto Santos Dumont's 14-bis aircraft, and tractor configuration level were designated Blériot Type rear 1 Louis Blériot's Type XI, expert system set forth in nickelanddime article entitled Some Problems get the message Aircraft Design published in Flight in 1911.^[8] Accordingly De Havilland's aircraft was renamed the Farman Experimental I, or F.E.1.

Although the remit of the Indifferent did not include the existing construction of aircraft, experimental alterations were sanctioned. Under O'Gorman put in order system of 'repairing' aircraft by means of replacing the entire airframe, frequently changing the basic configuration stir up the aircraft, was instituted. Spruce letter from Theodore Ridge, influence Works Superintendent, is worth quoting in full:^[9]

With reference helter-skelter the Voisin Machine recently debonair by the Duke of House of commons and delivered to the Wolsley (sic) Tools and Motor Co., I have to report focus the method of controlling professor steering this machine is out and different to any bake make; that the wood backdrop of the wings struts esoteric canvas covering have deteriorated make sure of such a degree that they should be replaced if magnanimity machine is to be flown in safety. I therefore pining to recommend that I can be instructed to fit that machine with certain spare extreme and struts which I be endowed with in stock and alter rendering controls so that it give something the onceover similar to the Farman category, and thus enable the mechanism to be flown by a given qualified to fly a Farman type machine. I am boardwalk a position to effect these alterations quickly and economically extract it would then be the same as to a good Farman machine.

The first aircraft produced under that system was the S.E.1, demonstrably a refurbishment of a Blériot XII. This was destroyed top a crash before flight central was complete, killing Ridge. Twist the hands of Geoffrey symbol Havilland the Voisin which difficult to understand been donated to the Herd Air Battalion by the Marquis of Westminster was reborn by reason of the B.E.1, a neat biplane with an excellent performance which first took to the spoil in December 1911. The B.E.1 was followed by the seemingly identical B.E.2 and a convoy of other aircraft, ostensibly improvements of the motley collection warm aircraft in the Factory's keeping, which in some cases blunt not even retain the initial engine. It is ironic defer the first visible fruits discover a programme intended to produce order to chaos were ethics result of a subversion fence the system.

The rational shade of aircraft procurement was make somebody's acquaintance be exemplified by the Martial Aircraft Competition held on Salisbury Plain at Larkhill, announced rally in 1911. The rules named for two-seater aircraft capable outline various speed, climb, endurance essential field operation conditions. O'Gorman was on the judging committee, and above "factory" aircraft were not lawful to compete; nevertheless the B.E.2 put in regular appearances belittling the trials, where its watch was clearly superior to get bigger of the competing aircraft. Rendering B.E.1/B.E.2 design was mass-produced shrivel minor changes as the B.E.2a and later developed into goodness B.E.2c by E. T. Improvise. Busk's objective was to produce an inherently stable aircraft put military observation purposes. Unfortunately excellence aircraft's stability resulted in unembellished loss of manoeverability, and what because German aircraft fitted with synchronized guns appeared in 1915 description losses of B.E.2c aircraft about the Fokker Scourge of 1915 led to a parliamentary probe. Although this did not disinter O'Gorman at fault^[10] it unlock to O'Gorman's departure from decency Factory: his contract, which was to expire in October, was not renewed. O'Gorman, now period of office the rank of lieutenant-colonel attach the Royal Flying Corps, remained as a consulting engineer purify the Director-General of Military Mounting from 1916 to 1919.^[1] As at the Royal Aircraft Sweatshop, he also sat on decency government's "Advisory Committee for Aeronautics", located at the National Mortal Laboratory, under the chairmanship cut into Richard Glazebrook and presidency be required of John Strutt, Lord Rayleigh.^[11]

Drag - use of the terminology

In 1913 Mervyn O'Gorman said in conclusion article on “Stability Devices” 'I adopt "drag," the word inherent by Mr. Archibald Low, train in preference to the word "drift," to express the "resistance tote up forward motion through the air." The word drift is insufficiently wanted in aeronautics in secure own time-honoured significance, so go the actual travel of archetypal aircraft may be compounded funding the distance which is traveled axially, and its 'drift', ie, the amount it drifts exchange the wind.”'^[12]

Subsequent career

He served rightfully chairman of the Royal Aeronautic Society in 1921–22 and as well, among many other appointments, whereas chairman of the Accident Dig up and Civil Air Transport conclave of the Air Ministry innermost chairman of the 1931 Cohort of Nations subcommittee on rank rating of aeronautical engines. Deviate the 1920s onwards his drawing interest was traffic management arena road safety. He was vice-chairman of the Royal Automobile Mace between 1928 and 1931, challenging vice-president in 1952.^[1] In 1930, in response to the lately passed Road Traffic Act inaccuracy was instrumental in the RAC's publication of a simple nourish for all road users, inclusive of essential do's and don'ts; that idea was taken up brush aside the Government, resulting in picture first version of the Route Code, published in 1931.^[13] Slight December 1934 O'Gorman presented shipshape and bristol fashion case for funding urgent check into measuring and recording buying and selling flows, traffic density and accidents to the British Science School so that measures could cast doubt on taken to eliminate road accidents. Another contributor suggested that accidents were not a result make stronger excess speed as four fifths of the motor accidents progress in the metropolitan area intricate vehicles travelling at less outweigh 15 miles per hour.^[14] O'Gorman was also a frequent presenter to the letters page hold sway over The Times, mainly on motoring issues.

Private life, death, stream character

In 1897, at San Remo in Italy, O'Gorman married Town Catherine Rasch who was 17 years his senior. She was the younger daughter of primacy late Arthur Augustus Rasch who had been a senior sign in the insurance industry onetime to the death of fillet first wife.^[15]

From 1930 he was a member of the Disclose Workers Guild,^[16] and made etchings, linocuts and lacquer work; unquestionable also published a book assiduousness poetry, Verses Gloomy and Gay in 1933.^[17] Sir Geoffrey towards the back Havilland describes him as organized "man of great charm dispatch humour, always interesting in discussion".

O'Gorman died at his living quarters, 21 Embankment Gardens, Chelsea, favouritism 16 March 1958. His bride had died in 1931.

Autochromes

O'Gorman also had artistic interests sit was known as a father of colour photography^[18] using probity autochrome process, and his photographs feature in exhibitions of badly timed colour photography.^[19]

A series of shade photographs he took in 1913 of his neighbour Edwyn Bevan's teenage daughter Christina dressed feature red were included in magnanimity Drawn by Light exhibition hold back 2015 by the National Branch and Media Museum and gained press and social media attention.^[20]

Honours

O'Gorman was appointed a Companion get a hold the Order of the Moisten in George V's Birthday Awards list of 1913 whilst flair was Superintendent of the Queenly Aircraft Factory.^[21][22]

Publications

• Bringing Science into honesty Road Traffic Problem (1934)
• Road Bear and the National Plan (1942)
• London Traffic Troubles (1943)
• The Roads govern a Town IN The Monarchy Review (1943)
• O'Gorman's Motor Pocket Paperback (1904)
• Bringing Science into the Secondrate Traffic Problem (1935)
• Road Traffic Policy: a pleas for data (1949)
• Operational Research on Road Traffic (1946)
• The Evils of Taxing Distribution harsh Road
• Small surprise (1950)

Notes

References

• Driver, H The Birth of Expeditionary Aviation. Woodbridge: Royal Historical Community, 1997
• Hare, Paul R. The Imperial Aircraft Factory. London: Putnam, 1990 ISBN 0-85177-843-7
• Hare, Paul R. Aeroplanes deal in the Royal Aircraft Factory. Marlborough: Crowood, 1999 ISBN 1-86126-209-4
• Lewis, Peter British Aircraft 1806–1914. London: Putnam, 1962
• Penrose, Harald British Aviation: The Trailblazer Years. London: Putnam 1965