|
Harold Roxbee Cox, Baron Kings Norton, FEng, FIMechE (6 June 1902 – 21 December 1997) was a British aeronautical engineer. ==Life== He was the son of William John and Amelia Roxbee Cox (''née'' Stern). As a child, his father took him to early air shows and air races, and his imagination was fuelled by pilots of the time such as Claude Grahame-White, B. C. Hucks and Gustav Hamel, beginning a lifelong fascination with aircraft. He left Kings Norton Grammar School (now King's Norton Boys' School) at the age of 16 and joined the Aircraft Design Department of the Austin Motor Company at Longbridge, which was at that time, designing and building light aircraft such as the Whippet and Kestrel. Guided by the chief designer, he was responsible for the design of the tail unit of the single-seat Whippet.〔 When Austin's aviation interests failed in 1920, Roxbee (as he was known to his friends) was transferred to the workshops to work with the apprentices, and worked towards an external University of London BSc, which he gained with first class honours. In 1922 he left Longbridge for London, where he began studying for both a PhD and a DIC (Diploma of the Imperial College) at Imperial College London in the aerodynamics and instabilities of wings.〔 As soon as he had graduated, he joined the state-financed Airship R101 engineering team at the Royal Airship Works, Cardington. After the R101 tragedy, the work that had been planned for the R100 was cancelled, and Roxbee Cox began working on the development of aeroplanes at the Royal Aircraft Establishment at Farnborough. It was here that he contributed to aircraft safety with his studies on the problem of wing flutter and the stability of structures. By 1936 relations between Britain and Nazi Germany were steadily deteriorating, and there was a need to prepare for a possible war. An Air Defence Department was founded at the Royal Aircraft Establishment, and Roxbee became its head. Much of the work carried out there was with barrage balloons.〔 There were two aims to this research. Allied balloons needed to be able to bring down enemy aircraft, and conversely friendly aircraft needed to get through any barrages unscathed. In 1936 the Government created the Air Registration Board, a new body that would examine civil aircraft and issue certificates of airworthiness. With his experience in air safety from the Royal Aircraft Establishment, Roxbee became their Chief Technical Officer in 1938. Immediately war was declared, Roxbee was transferred back to Farnborough as Superintendent of Scientific Research and was then moved to the new Ministry of Aircraft Production in May 1940, as Deputy Director of Scientific Research. He dealt with a whole range of wartime projects, and was promoted to become Director of Special Projects in 1943. Roxbee had the special responsibility to work on jet engines.〔 It was now Roxbee's job not to be the engineer, but the facilitator. The major aircraft and engine companies had each been conducting their own research into combining gas turbines and jet propulsion, but only Group Captain Frank Whittle's jet engine design worked. However, collaboration was now more important than trade secrets, with the government encouraging any efforts that could give the Allies any edge in conflict. Roxbee founded, and chaired, the Gas Turbine Collaboration Committee, helping to pool ideas and experience. In 1944 the Minister of Aircraft Production, Sir Stafford Cripps, nationalised Power Jets, making Roxbee both chairman and managing director. Power Jets was restyled again in 1946 as the National Gas Turbine Establishment (NGTE) with Roxbee as its Director. In 1948 Roxbee moved from the National Gas Turbine Establishment to become Chief Scientist at the Ministry of Fuel and Power, where he applied his gas turbine knowledge for the benefit of power generation.〔 In 1954 Roxbee left the civil service to begin a second career in industry, and over the next twenty years he served on the boards of companies as diverse as the British Printing Corporation, the engineers Ricardo, and chemicals company Hoechst UK. He also chaired the packaging company Metal Box and the paint-makers Bergers, Jenson and Nicholson (now Berger Paints India), and was President of the Campden and Chorleywood Food Research Association for 33 years. Playing a wider role in business, Roxbee was involved with a number of industry bodies. He was the Chairman of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, and President of both the National Council for Quality and Reliability and the Institute of Marketing. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Roxbee Cox, Baron Kings Norton」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|