Collier
H.A and C.R. Collier
Contents
History
Henry Collier founded a company to make bicycles under the Matchless name in Herbert Road, Plumstead in 1878, becoming 'H Collier & Sons' in 1908 after his two eldest sons, Henry Albert Collier (1884 – 1944), known as Harry, and Charles Richard Collier (1886 – 1954), known as Charlie, joined him in the business. Henry was to become Works Manager and Charles an engineer. Charlie became famous as a motorcycle racer for winning Isle of Man TT races twice in his career. After competing in the 1906 International Cup Races on the European continent, Charlie Collier became the first Isle of Man TT race winner in 1907. After setting a number of world motorcycle records on Matchless machines, he won another Isle of Man TT race in 1910.
Meanwhile, also in 1910, the brothers dabbled in aviation, building a Bleriot-type monoplane.
In 1928 the public company, Matchless Motorcycles (Colliers) Ltd, was formed with the brothers as joint managing directors.
Company References
- British Aircraft Before The Great War, Michael H. Goodall and Albert E. Tagg (Schiffer Publishing Ltd., 2001)
- Chttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matchless
- Ancestry.com
Project Data
| Project No | Type No | Name | Alternative Name(s) | Year | Spec (Requirement) | Status | Qty | Description | References |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monoplane | 1910 | Proto | 1 | 1S, 1E 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, Say Sanger (Air-Britain (Historians), 2008)
Production Details and Type Description
Single-seat tractor monoplane based on the Blériot type. The fuselage was of ash and wings, elevator and rudder of spruce. One 25 h.p. J.A.P. powerplant.
| Specification | |||||
| Span | Length | Height | Wing Area | Empty Wt | Max AUW |
| 30 ft | 26 ft | 180 sq ft | 500 lb | 650 lb | |
| 9.14 m | 7.92 m | 16.72 m2 | 227 kg | 295 kg | |
Total Collier Production1