Buxton
G. M. Buxton
Contents
History
Group Captain Geoffrey Mungo Buxton (b. 26 May 1906 in St Albans, Hertfordshire – d. 19 Nov 1979 in Norfolk) was educated at Harrow School, Harrow, and in 1926 was commissioned in the Royal Air Force. In 1931, as a serving officer, he went up to Pembroke College, Cambridge, to read Engineering. He gained first class honours in the Mechanical Science Tripos, going on to an appointment at Halton.
A founder member of the London Gliding Club, he is entered as No 5 in the Royal Aero Club list for having the A and B certificates. He was the fourth British pilot to gain the C certificate It was Mungo Buxton who introduced Philip Wills, who had known from Harrow, to gliding at Dunstable and the two of them bought a Scud II. Mungo Buxton set up a British sailplane height record of 8323ft in September, 1934, in the Scud. In making his successful attempt from Sutton Bank in Yorkshire, Buxton made one of the first British thunderstorm flights. In 1934/35 he designed the revolutionary Hjordis sailplane for Philip Wills, which Wills subsequently flew with distinction for the next three years. His Hjordis 2 design of 1937 eventually emerged as the Slingsby Type 9 King Kite.
Mungo made his career with the RAF. In late 1934, he was appointed Engineering Officer to work on the first operating flight of the pilotless aircraft, the Queen Bee. In 1940, then a Wing Commander, he led C Special Duty Flight, formed at RAF Christchurch on the 21 June. The purpose was to determine whether the Worth Matravers radar station, which at that time was the key research and development establishment for RDF as radar was then known, could detect inbound gliders.
Given his considerable gliding background it was not too surprising that he found himself posted to Ringway, Manchester, as one of the senior officers of the Central Landing Establishment where he was in charge of the technical and tactical development unit. He was appointed Officer, Order of the British Empire (O.B.E.) in 1946 and in 1954 he was appointed Air Force representative of the Guided weapon Directorate of the Ministry of Supply until his retirement from the RAF in 1957. He was elected to Fellowship of the Aeronautical Society the same year.
Company References
- Vintage Glider Newsletter January 1980
- A History of British Gliding Part 1: The Beginnings To The End Of World War 2 by Glyn Bradney, available at https://docplayer.net/96450457-Gliding-heritage-centre.html
- The Times 30 November 1979
Project Data
| Project No | Type No | Name | Alternative Name(s) | Year | Spec (Requirement) | Status | Qty | Description | References |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hjordis | 1935 | Proto | 1 | 1S sailplane | 1,2,3 | ||||
| Hjordis 2 | 1936 | See Slingsby Type 9 King Kite | |||||||
| B.5 | 1937 | Proj | 0 | 1S sailplane | 1,4 | ||||
| Tailess | 1937 | Proj | 0 | 1S tailles swept wing sailplane | 1,4 | ||||
Project References
- British Gliders and Sailplanes 1922-1970, Norman Ellison (Adam and Charles Black, 1970)
- Sailplanes 1920-1945, Martin Simons (EQIP Werbung & Verla GmbH, 2006)
- Slingsby Sailplanes, Martin Simons (Airlife, 1996)
- RAeS Journal Volume 42 - Issue 332 - August 1938
Production Details and Type Description
Single seat sailplane of conventional wooden construction. The Hjordis had a cantilever wing of unusually high aspect ratio, strongly cambered and very thick at the root, mounted on a very tall, narrow pylon above an exceptionally refined fuselage. The main wingspar had flanges laminated in spruce with plywood shear webbing and hefty steel fittings with horizontal pins to attach the wings separately to the fuselage pylon. A lighter rear spar carried the ailerons. The ribs had narrow spruce booms and substantial plywood webs to stiffen them, the whole wing was covered with plywood back to the auxiliary spar. The fuselage was a semi-monocoque structure, with four main longerons supported by circular crossframes and a complete plywood skin. The wing mounting pylon was based on two very robust vertical spars connecting the wing fittings directly to the main skid attachments. The tailplane was of the all-moving type, mounted part way up the triangular fin.
| Specification | |||||
| Span | Length | Height | Wing Area | Empty Wt | Max AUW |
| 20 ft 3 in | 60 ft | 224 sq ft | 328 lb | 480 lb | |
| 6.17 m | 18.29 m | 20.81 m2 | 149 kg | 218 kg | |
Total Buxton Production1
Page Revision History
Revised at Version 2.0.0- Improved Type Description and added Specification Details.