Talk:Herbert Smith (aircraft designer)

Early career

Following text moved from article to here for discussion:-

Perhaps there were two Herbert Smiths. According to Wing Commander Norman Macmillan OBE, MC, AFC, DL, Herbert Smith was a draughtsman when he joined Sopwith in 1914, taking over responsibility for design shortly thereafter. Macmillan makes no mention of Herbert Smith working for Dean, Smith and Grace, and nor does he mention him in the context of the designer of the Pup. See, Flight, 30th December 1960, ‘Who Designed the Famous Sopwith Types?’ a Mystery Solved by Wing Commander Norman Macmillan. Originally added by User:Weiterbewegung

NtheP (talk) 18:16, 28 December 2010 (UTC)

I think the confirmation that there is just one Herbert is in the fascinating article from Flight linked above. It contains these words: Herbert Smith took a Diploma in Engineering at the Bradford Technical College, then spent three years in a workshop and one year in a drawing office before joining the Bristol Aeroplane Company as a draughtsman. He transferred to the Sopwith Company in March 1914, also as a draughtsman, and was there until their liquidation in October 1920.

This exactly matches the text from the source at the Air Pictorial journal. This says: ....joining Dean, Smith & Grace of Keighley, a firm making machine tools who are still very much in business today. From there he sought design and drawing office experiencewith Smith, Major & Stephens who manufactured lifts in Northampton. Having acquired a sound basic training in various aspects of mechanical engineering, Herbert then became involved in the world of aircraft manufacture.

So I think we can be safe in the knowledge that there is only one Herbert, and this is he! Kim Dent-Brown ^(Talk) 19:08, 28 December 2010 (UTC)

Some more (brief) information on Smith here; [1] and here; [2] — Preceding unsigned comment added by 80.7.147.13 (talk) 17:52, 12 February 2014 (UTC)