Astley
H.J.D. Astley
Contents
History
Henry Jacob Delaval Frankland-Russell-Astley (though normally just called Henry Astley) was born on 3 March 1888 in London, the son of Bertram Frankland-Russell-Astley and Lady Florence Russell-Astley (née Conyngham). Chequers Court, Ellesborough, Buckinghamshire, today the British Prime Minister's residence, was at the time the Astley family country home.
Astley was commissioned into the 3rd (Prince of Wales's) Dragoon Guards as a 2nd Lieutenant on 27 January 1909, but resigned his commission on 7 July. This may have been associated with the state of his finances, as a Bankruptcy Notice was issued against him on 7 September.
Whatever the state of Astley's finances, by December 1909 he had built a monoplane at Brooklands; damaged in trials, Astley built a second machine from the remains of the first. Neither machine is likely to have flown. Astley gained his RAeC Aviators Certificate on 31 December 1910 (awarded on 24 January 1911), flying a Sommer biplane at Brooklands belonging to the Universal Aviation Co.
Throughout the 1911 and 1912 seasons, he carried out many exhibition flights and flew competitively, but unfortunately was killed in an accident while flying a Deperdussin monoplane at the Balmoral Show Grounds, Belfast on 21 September 1912.
Company References
- British Aircraft Before The Great War, Michael H. Goodall and Albert E. Tagg (Schiffer Publishing Ltd., 2001)
- http://www.thepeerage.com/p7210.htm#i72095
Project Data
| Project No | Type No | Name | Alternative Name(s) | Year | Spec (Requirement) | Status | Qty | Description | References |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monoplane No. 1 | 1909 | Proto | 1 | 1S, 1E tractor monoplane | 1,2,3 | ||||
| Monoplane No. 2 | 1910 | Proto | 1 | 1S, 1E tractor monoplane | 1,2,3 |
Project References
- British Aircraft Before The Great War, Michael H. Goodall and Albert E. Tagg (Schiffer Publishing Ltd, 2001)
- British Aircraft 1809-1914, Peter Lewis Putnam, 1962)
- Bleriot in Britain 1899-1927, Ray Sanger (Air-Britain (Historians), 2008)
Production Details and Type Description
Single seat, single engined high wing monoplane of wood and fabric construction, featuring a Blériot style undercarriage and cabane structure, an enclosed fuselage and triangular wingtip ailerons. The fin and fixed tailplane were triangular, the latter attacher to the fusealge top longerons, and extended well forward along the fuselage. The elevator was a single slab like surface, with small triangular rudders were located above and below. One 30-40 h.p. NEC powerplant.
| Monoplane No.1 Specification | |||||
| Span | Length | Height | Wing Area | Empty Wt | Max AUW |
| 24 ft | 24 ft | ||||
| 7.32 m | 7.32 m | ||||
One aircraft only, no c/n or registration.
Assumed to be built from the remains of Monoplane No.1, the wings and forward fuselage were the same, but the fuselage after the cockpit was extremely rudimentary, with a simple uncovered boom-like structure supporting elevator and rudders as No.1, but featuring no fixed fin or tailplane.
One aircraft only, no c/n or registration.
Total Astley Production2
Page Revision History
Revised at Version 2.0.0- Added Type Description and Specification details.
- Improved Astley personal details.
- Added to Astley personal details.