Ashfield
R.J. Ashfield
Contents
History
Reginald John Ashfield was born in East Moulsey, Surrey, on 21 Mar 1891 to John Lewington Ashfield and Eliza Jeanette Ashfield (née Lewington).
Ashfield initially became a schoolteacher at Tiffin School, Kingston upon Thames; a keen aeroplane model-maker, he built a glider with his pupils which they tried at Telegraph Hill, Thames Ditton. As a devotee of Hendon and Brooklands at week-ends, he was commissioned by C.G. Grey to write a short descriptive article on the Sopwith Hybrid, and at the Sopwith establishment was asked to hand Grey an advertisement for a draughtsman. He immediately decided to abandon teaching, applied for the job, and got it, becoming Sopwith's first draughtsman.
Ashfield eventually left Sopwith for Gosport in early 1917, then to George Pamall and Co Ltd (1919-1932), Vickers-Armstrongs Ltd (1932-1939) and finally to the Fairey Aviation Co Ltd, from where he retired in 1962. While employed by George Pamall, Ashfield designed a single seat biplane glider for the 1923 'Flight' Glider Designing Competition. Although the joint winning design, it was never built.
Reginald John Ashfield died on 1 June 1982 in Birmingham.
Company References
- Flight 24 May 1923
- Flight 19 July 1962
Project Data
| Project No | Type No | Name | Alternative Name(s) | Year | Spec (Requirement) | Status | Qty | Description | References |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| KL | 1923 | Proj | 0 | 1S biplane glider. | 1,2,3 |
Project References
- Flight 12 Apr 1923
- Flight 19 Apr 1923
- Flight 24 May 1923
Production Details and Type Description
Single seat, single-bay, biplane glider. The pilot was seated on the lower front spar, giving a good view forward and downward. The box section fuselage was to be constructed of birch 3-ply, the whole stiffened by spruce struts and occasional wire or gusset bracing. The wings featured spruce spars and ply leading edge, along with 3-ply ribs with spruce caps. The tailplane, elevators, fin and rudder formed a self-contained unit, readily removable, since the rudder was not hinged on the fuselage sternpost. The seat and controls in the cockpit also formed one easily removed unit. The undercarriage was simply a cross axle carrying a pair of Palmer wheels, working in a slot in the fuselage, sprung by rubber. A light ash tail skid was fitted. Towing and launching hooks were provided at the nose.
| Specification | |||||
| Span | Length | Height | Wing Area | Empty Wt | Max AUW |
| 24 ft | 17 ft 6 in | 6 ft 3 in | 184 sq ft | 175 lb | 335 lb |
| 7.32 m | 5.33 m | 1.91 m | 17.09 m2 | 79 kg | 152 kg |
Total Ashfield Production0
Page Revision History
Revised at Version 2.0.0- Added Type Description and Specification details.