Photo: Original photograph taken by an employee of the British government., PD, via Wikipedia¹¹

Edgar Percival

Aircraft designer and pilot

Edgar Wikner Percival (23 February 1897 – 21 January 1984) was an Australian aircraft designer and pilot whose aircraft were distinguished by speed and grace. Percival went on to set up the Percival Aircraft Company, a British aircraft company.²

From Wikipedia’s article on Edgar Percival (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Born Feb 23, 1897, died Jan 21, 1984.¹

Companies

Hunting AircraftFounder¹⁰

Early life and education

Date not recordedFort Street High School³

Percival was born in 1898 at Albury, New South Wales, the son of Blanche Hilda Leontina Percival, née Wikner and William Percival, a butter manufacturer. Edgar Percival's maternal great uncle was the Swedish philosopher Pontus Wikner.

As a child Percival assisted at his family's farm, on the flats of the Hawkesbury River at Richmond, New South Wales. He also became fascinated by aviation, especially after seeing an aeroplane for the first time in 1911, when a local dental surgeon and pioneer aviator, William Ewart Hart, landed on the council field in Richmond, near the Percival property. After helping to maintain Hart's aircraft, Percival received, as a reward, his first flight. By 1912, when he was 14, Percival had designed, produced and flown his own gliders.

He attended Richmond Grammar school until he left at the age of 15, to become an apprentice engineer at a Sydney firm. He later enrolled at Sydney Technical College, before undertaking a short course in aeronautical engineering at Sydney University.

From Wikipedia’s article on Edgar Percival (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Career

Occupation: engineer, aircraft pilot, military flight engineer.⁵

Date not recordedFounded Hunting Aircraft⁴

Personal life

BornFeb 23, 1897, Albury⁶
DiedJan 21, 1984, London⁷
CitizenshipUnited Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom⁸

Awards

Date not recordedFellow of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers⁹
Date not recordedFellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society⁹
Date not recordedFellow of the Royal Society⁹

Sources

The numbers on this page point here. Each one links to the record it came from.

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WikidataEdgar Percival on Wikidata
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WikipediaEdgar Percival on Wikipedia
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WikidataEdgar Percival: education, on Wikidata
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WikidataEdgar Percival: Founded Hunting Aircraft, on Wikidata
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WikidataEdgar Percival: occupation, on Wikidata
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WikidataEdgar Percival: place of birth, on Wikidata
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WikidataEdgar Percival: place of death, on Wikidata
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WikidataEdgar Percival: citizenship, on Wikidata
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WikidataEdgar Percival: award, on Wikidata
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WikidataHunting Aircraft, Founder
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Wikimedia CommonsEdgar Percival photo by Original photograph taken by an employee of the British government., PD