Lionel Peter Twiss OBE, DSC & Bar (23 July 1921 – 31 August 2011) was a British test pilot who held the World Air Speed Record in 1956.

In 1938, he was employed as an apprentice tea-taster by Brooke Bond in London, before returning to the family farm near Salisbury.

[1][2] Rejected as a pilot by the Fleet Air Arm, he was accepted as a Naval Airman Second Class on the outbreak of the Second World War.

[2] His next posting was at the School of Army Co-operation at Andover, flying Bristol Blenheims as a twin conversion.

Later in the year, the squadron converted to Supermarine Seafires flying from HMS Furious for the Operation Torch landings in North Africa.

Later in 1944, he was sent to the British Air Commission Washington DC, where he tested various prototype aircraft and evaluated airborne radar equipment.

On 17 November 1954, the FD2 suffered engine failure and consequently hydraulic power loss on a test flight, but Twiss managed to crash-land at Boscombe Down.

[6] In 1960, Fairey Aviation was sold to Westland Aircraft, a helicopter manufacturer, which was not Twiss's area of expertise.

[1] In 1969, driving the Fairey Huntsman 707 Fordsport, he took part in the Round Britain Powerboat Race, including among his crew Rally champion Roger Clark.