John Fozard

John William Fozard (16 January 1928 – 17 July 1996) was a British aeronautical engineer who helped to design the Hawker Siddeley Harrier.

He grew up in austerity because his father was unemployed due to spinal injuries and only his maternal grandmother was in full-time employment.

[2][1]: 194  In 1942 (aged 14) he joined the Air Training Corps and with them visited RAF stations, where he flew in Lancaster and Halifax bombers.

At this time Blackburn transferred Fozard to their Brough site, which allowed to continue his studies full-time at Hull municipal technical college, funded by a West Riding Council scholarship.

Although advanced designs for their time, these projects were cancelled by the infamous 1957 Defence White Paper, and Hawker concentrated all work on the P.1127, which had been considered less important up to that point.

The first Sea Harrier (XZ451 – FRS.1) was handed to the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm on 18 June 1979, at a ceremony at BAe Dunsfold (the site had been owned by Hawker Siddeley from 1950), later to be based at RNAS Yeovilton.

This version of the Harrier had been given the definitive go-ahead (funding) on 15 May 1975 by Roy Mason, the Barnsley-born Defence Secretary, after being met with government indifference previously.