Roy Chadwick, an English aircraft design engineer for the Avro Company, was born on April 30, 1893, at Marsh Hall Farm in Farnworth, Widnes. He was the son of Charles Chadwick, a mechanical engineer. Roy worked as the chief designer for Avro and was responsible for most of the company’s airplane designs. He is best known for creating the Avro Lancaster bomber, the Avro Lincoln bomber, and early designs for the Avro Vulcan bomber. He also modified the Lincoln to develop the Shackleton aircraft. The Avro Yorks, which he designed, helped transport one-third of all supplies sent to West Berlin during the Berlin Airlift. Roy Chadwick passed away on August 23, 1947.

Early life

Chadwick attended St Clements Church School in Urmston. From 1907 to 1911, he studied at night school at the Manchester Municipal College of Technology while training as a draughtsman at the British Westinghouse Electrical Company in Trafford Park under George Edwin Bailey of Metropolitan-Vickers.

Avro years

At age 18 in September 1911, he started working as Alliott Verdon-Roe's (later Sir Alliott) personal assistant and as a draftsman for A.V. Roe and Company, Avro, located at Brownsfield Mill in Manchester. Under A.V. Roe's guidance, Chadwick designed the Avro D, a two-seater tractor biplane, the Avro E, which was later converted into a floatplane, and in 1912, the Avro F, the world's first monoplane with an enclosed cabin. He later worked on the designs for the Avro 500, 501, and 503, which led to the development of Avro's World War I light bomber and trainer, the Avro 504.

In 1915, at age 22, Chadwick designed the Avro Pike, a twin-engined pusher biplane bomber. That year, as he began designing entire aircraft, he worked from Hamble, near Southampton. In 1918, he became Avro's Chief Designer when the company employed about 40 people. He designed the Avro Baby and, in 1920, the Avro Aldershot, the world's largest single-engined bomber, along with variants such as the Avro Ava and Avro Andover.

In 1925, he designed an all-metal plane, the single-seater fighter Avro Avenger, and in 1926, the Avro Avian, which was used by Bert Hinkler for the first solo flight from England to Australia in 1928. In 1928, he returned to the Avro factory in Woodford, Greater Manchester, a facility later used by BAE Systems until its closure in 2012. That year, he designed an eight-passenger high-wing plane, the Avro 10, and a four-passenger version, the Avro 4. In 1929, he designed the RAF trainer, the Avro Tutor, a smaller version called the Avro Cadet, and an enclosed version, the Avro Commodore. This was followed by the Avro Anson, used in World War II for training crews and as a transport aircraft.

In the late 1930s, work began on a long-range bomber, the Avro Manchester, followed by the Avro Lancaster (Avro 683), of which 7,300 were built. In 1939, production of Avro aircraft was moved to a new factory in Greengate, Chadderton, owned by BAE Systems until its closure in 2012. In 1941, he designed a long-range transport, the Avro York, and larger versions of the Lancaster, including the Avro Lincoln and Avro Lancastrian.

After the war, he designed Britain's first pressurized airliner, the Avro Tudor, based on the Lancaster-derived Avro Lincoln, though few were built. He also designed the Avro Shackleton in 1946. His final work with Avro involved overseeing the initial designs of the Avro Vulcan (Avro 698) from 1946. Author Harald Penrose described Chadwick in British Aviation as "Artistic with unbounded enthusiasm and unsparing energy, Roy Chadwick was a great designer of intuitive diagnostic ability rather than a scientist, yet like all great masters was in step with the tide of knowledge and contemporary outlook." Chadwick was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 1943 Birthday Honours for his contributions to the design of the Lancaster, particularly for the modifications he made to prepare it for low-level attacks on German dams during the Dam Busters raid, Operation Chastise. The same year, he was granted the Honorary Freedom of the City of London.

Death

Chadwick died on August 23, 1947, during a crash that occurred when the prototype Avro Tudor 2 G-AGSU took off from Woodford Aerodrome near Shirfold Farm. The crash happened because of a mistake made during overnight maintenance. The aileron cables were accidentally crossed. A bust of Chadwick is displayed at the RAF Club in London, along with other important designers. It is also shown at the Chadwick Centre at the International Bomber Command Centre in Lincoln.

Legacy

The Chadwick Centre at the International Bomber Command Centre in Lincolnshire is named to honor Chadwick. A blue plaque on the remaining office building of the Avro factory at Greengate remembers him. Another blue plaque at 38 Chessel Avenue in Bitterne, Hampshire, marks the home where he lived from 1922 to 1929, during the time the Avro design team worked nearby at Hamble.

The A523 bypass around Poynton, which crosses the old Woodford Aerodrome runway, is named Roy Chadwick Way in his honor. Another road named Roy Chadwick Way was created in BAE Systems’ new Enterprise Zone at the site of the old Samlesbury Aerodrome.

In Widnes, the town where Chadwick was born, a storyboard shows his life and achievements. It is placed near the edge of a footpath between Shackleton Avenue and Derby Road. Nearby, many streets have names related to aviation, including Chadwick Lane.

Letters from his family to his daughter, Rosemary Lapham, along with personal papers, photos of family, friends, and aircraft, early engineering drawings, and other memorabilia have been turned into digital files and can be viewed online.