Arthur Ernest Hagg

Arthur Ernest Hagg
Born1888
Died(1985-01-21)21 January 1985 (aged 96–97)
OccupationAircraft designer
Known forresponsible for the designs of the de Havilland DH.88 Comet racer, Albatross, Express and Airspeed Ambassador airliners

Arthur Ernest Hagg (1888 – 21 January 1985[1]) was a British aircraft and boat designer.

He was born in Brighton and educated in Bournemouth. He started work for Airco in 1915, aged 27, and worked as a draftsman on the DH4 in 1916. He transferred to the de Havilland Aircraft company (Stag Lane) when it was created in 1920.[2][3]

At de Havilland he invented the differential ailerons used on the Tiger Moth and other de Havilland aircraft[4] eventually becoming chief designer. In this role he was responsible for the designs of the DH88 Comet racer and of the Albatross and the Express airliners.[1]

Hagg became interested in boat building and in early 1937 he resigned his position as director and chief designer at de Havilland to set up the Walton Yacht Works.[3] In November of that year he also became a consultant with D Napier and Son, Ltd., overseeing Heston's design team for the Napier-Heston Racer, a wooden aircraft powered by a 2,450 horsepower (1,830 kW) Napier Sabre engine and designed to break the world airspeed record.[5][6][7] In January 1943 he joined Airspeed Ltd. as technical director and was responsible for the Airspeed Ambassador (BEA Elizabethan).[8][9] He retired in 1947.[10]

  1. ^ a b "Obituary". Flight International. 9 February 1985. p. 42.
  2. ^ Bacon 1985, p. 55.
  3. ^ a b Flight. 4 March 1937. p. 207. {{cite magazine}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  4. ^ Flight. 25 October 1923. p. 654. {{cite magazine}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  5. ^ Gunston, Bill; "The napier-Heston Racer", Aeroplane Monthly, June 1976, pp.320-5.
  6. ^ Flight. 15 April 1943. p. 388. {{cite magazine}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  7. ^ Flight. 30 September 1937. p. 338. {{cite magazine}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  8. ^ Flight. 7 January 1943. p. 6. {{cite magazine}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  9. ^ Bailey-Watson 1947, p. 309.
  10. ^ Flight. 27 October 1947. p. 567. {{cite magazine}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)