Harald Penrose
Harald James Penrose, O.B.E, CEng, F.R.Ae.S, A.M.I.N.A[1] (12 April 1904 – 31 August 1996) was the chief test pilot at Westland Aircraft between 1931 and 1953, a naval architect, and an aviation author.
His flying experience ranged from man carrying kites before the First World War to early jet fighters and helicopters.
[4] He first flew aged 7 in a man-lifting kite at the dizzying height of 10 ft. His first powered flight was in 1919, in a modified three-seat Avro 504K, piloted by Alan Cobham.
[citation needed] In 1927 he took 3 months of unpaid leave and learned to fly with Reserve of Air-Force Officers (RAFO) at Filton.
While his main duty was the production of civil aircraft such as the Wessex he was later involved in test flying experimental Wapitis.
He returned to England, took ten days leave but was recalled to Westlands after Paget was injured while performing low altitude aerobatics.
[12] As Westland's chief test pilot, Harald Penrose established a number of unusual aviation records in the 1930s.
He made one of the longest emergency glides in 1933,[citation needed] when the Westland Wallace, being prepared for the Huston Everest flight, suffered a fuel pump failure at 37,500 ft.[13] He made the first parachute escape from an aircraft with an enclosed canopy in 1934 when the Westland PV.7 suffered a structural failure during diving trials.
To get a performance comparison, he flew at the August 1935 BGA competition at Sutton Bank, accumulating a total of 6 hours 25 minutes.
[24] Basing their design on the Whirlwind, Westland developed the Welkin high altitude interceptor, Penrose flying the prototype in November 1942.
He developed pneumonia in early 1943 which he attributed to the extreme changes in temperature on leaving the Welkins cabin drenched in sweat and the bitter wind across the airfield.
He attributed its problems to underdeveloped power plants in conjunction with a high wing loading and would later describe it as "one of those very nearly very good machines".
[29] This flight was uneventful, but early in 1947 he was forced to land it at grass airstrip at RAF Warmwell after an engine failure, narrowly missing a hidden concrete block.
[32] Under the encouragement of Arthur Davenport and Teddy Petter, Westland's had a long history with rotorcraft starting with the Cierva C.29.
In 1944 when Westlands were considering post war business opportunities, Penrose suggested to Davenport that they cash in on their earlier experience of rotorcraft and investigate helicopters.
