Sir Sydney Camm, CBE, FRAeS, was an English engineer who worked on many Hawker aircraft designs. He helped create airplanes from the 1920s, which had two wings, to modern jet fighters. One of the most important planes he designed was the Hawker Hurricane fighter.
Early years
Sydney Camm was born at 10 Alma Road in Windsor, Berkshire. He was the oldest of twelve children in the Camm family, whose father, Frederick Camm, worked as a carpenter and joiner, and whose mother was Mary Smith. The Camm family lived near the Windsor & Eton Central railway station. His brother, Frederick James Camm, became a technical writer and later founded the Practical Wireless magazine.
In 1901, Sydney began attending the Royal Free School on Bachelors Acre in Windsor. The school later changed its name to the Royal Free Middle School, and the secondary school became the Princess Margaret Royal Free School on Bourne Avenue. In 1906, Sydney received a Foundation Scholarship. In 1908, he left school to work as an apprentice carpenter.
Sydney developed an interest in aeronautics. He and his brothers built model airplanes, which they sold to Herbert’s shop on Eton High Street. Later, they discovered they could sell the models directly to boys at Eton College. To avoid being noticed by Herbert and the school officials, they delivered the models secretly.
These activities led Sydney to become one of the founders of the Windsor Model Aeroplane Club in early 1912. His skills as a model airplane builder led to the creation of a glider that could carry a person, which he and others at the club built in 1912.
Aviation career
Before World War I began, Camm worked as a carpenter in the shop area of the Martinsyde aircraft company, which was located at the Brooklands racing circuit in Weybridge, Surrey. His skills helped him get promoted to the drawing office, where he worked during the war. In 1919, he published a book titled Aeroplane Construction. After the company went out of business in 1921, Camm was hired by George Handasyde, who had started his own aircraft manufacturing company and designed the Handasyde Monoplane.
In November 1923, Camm joined the Hawker Aircraft Company (later known as Hawker Siddeley) in Kingston upon Thames as a senior draughtsman. His first design was the Cygnet, which led to his appointment as chief designer in 1925.
In 1925, Camm and Fred Sigrist, Hawker’s managing director, created a new method of building aircraft using jointed tubes instead of welded structures. This made construction cheaper and simpler.
During his time at Hawker, Camm designed 52 different types of aircraft, with 26,000 of them being built. His early designs included the Tomtit, Hornbill, Nimrod, Hart, and Fury. By the 1930s, 84% of the Royal Air Force’s aircraft were designed by Camm.
Later, Camm designed planes that became important for the RAF during World War II, including the Hawker Hurricane, Hawker Typhoon, and Hawker Tempest.
At Hawker, Camm worked with engineers such as Sir Frederick Page, Leslie Appleton, Stuart Davies, Roy Chaplin, and Sir Robert Lickley. These individuals later contributed to other significant aircraft projects.
With the Hurricane, Camm transitioned from building biplanes to modern monoplane fighter aircraft. This change allowed fighters to fly faster, higher, and become more deadly.
In 1936, Frank Murdoch, a Hawker engineer, ensured the Hurricane was produced in enough numbers before the war began after visiting a factory in Germany.
When the Typhoon was first introduced, pilots noticed problems with the plane’s controls at high speeds. This was caused by the heavy engine being placed near the wing.
Designing planes to fly faster and handle the challenges of high-speed flight was a major challenge. Camm and his team of 100 engineers solved these issues, making the Typhoon effective in combat. The Typhoon was later used as a fighter-bomber, where its speed, weapon-carrying ability, and durability made it valuable. It played a key role in the Battle of the Falaise Pocket, helping the Allies retake much of France quickly.
The lessons learned from the Typhoon were used to improve its successor, the Hawker Tempest. After the Typhoon entered service, the Air Ministry asked for a new design. Camm suggested keeping most of the Typhoon’s design but changing the wing shape. He also tested two powerful engines: the Napier Sabre and the Bristol Centaurus. The Tempest Mk 5 used the Sabre engine, while the Tempest Mk 2 used the Centaurus. These changes required minimal adjustments, making it easier to transport the planes to India and Pakistan near the end of the war.
A later version of the Tempest, called the Fury, had a smaller wing and better visibility for the pilot. Only the carrier-based Hawker Sea Fury was completed and used by the Royal Navy from 1947 to 1955.
Post-war work
After World War II, Camm designed many jet-powered aircraft that became important during the Cold War.
One of Camm’s important projects after the war was his work on the Hawker Siddeley P.1127/Kestrel FGA.1, which was the ancestor of the Hawker Siddeley Harrier. The Harrier is a vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft created by Hawker Siddeley, a company that later became British Aerospace, now known as BAE Systems. The Harrier was an unusual aircraft developed in postwar Britain, requiring the combination of advanced technologies, such as vectored thrust engines like the Bristol Siddeley (later Rolls-Royce) Pegasus and systems like the Reaction Control System. Camm was a key person in deciding these and other important features of the Harrier. In 1953, Camm was knighted for his work and contributions to British aviation. The P.1127 made its first flight on October 21, 1960. Professor John Fozard worked with Camm on this aircraft and the Hunter. Fozard became head of the Hawker design office in 1961 and wrote a biography about Camm in 1991.
Before the Harrier, Camm worked on many Hawker aircraft, including the Hawker Hunter, which was likely his most important design after World War II.
Final years
Sydney Camm was given a knighthood on June 2, 1953, when Queen Elizabeth II was crowned queen.
Camm served as President of the Royal Aeronautical Society (RAeS) from 1954 to 1955. Since 1971, the RAeS has held a special lecture every two years in June, called the Sir Sydney Camm Lecture. This lecture is given by the current commander-in-chief of RAF Air Command.
Camm retired as chief designer at Hawker in 1965, and Ralph Hooper took over his role. However, Camm continued to be a member of the board of Hawker Siddeley, the company that followed Hawker, until his death.
Before his death, Camm was working on the design of an aircraft that could travel at Mach 4. He began his career in aircraft design in 1912 by building a man-carrying glider, just nine years after the first powered flight.
In 1966, Camm was awarded the Guggenheim Gold Medal, but the medal had to be given after he passed away.
Personal life
Camm lived in Thames Ditton, Surrey. He married Hilda Starnes in 1915. They had a daughter in 1922.
Tributes
The road named 'Camm Gardens' in Kingston-upon-Thames was named in honor of Sydney Camm. A memorial is located there to remember his work on a propeller engine hub used during World War 2.
In 2012, a full-size replica of a Hawker Hurricane airplane was built near Alexandra Gardens in Windsor, which is the hometown of Sydney Camm and close to where he grew up.
In 1984, Sydney Camm was honored by being added to the International Air & Space Hall of Fame at the San Diego Air & Space Museum.
A bronze statue created by Ambrose Barber was placed in Kingston Library in 2014.