Frederick Handley Page

Handley Page was born in Cheltenham, the second son of Frederick Joseph Page, a furniture maker and member of the Plymouth Brethren. He was educated at Cheltenham Grammar School. In 1902, against his parents' wishes, he moved to London to study electrical engineering at Finsbury Technical College.

On qualifying in 1906 he was appointed head designer at Johnson & Phillips Ltd, an electrical engineering company based in Charlton in south east London. In 1907 he joined the Royal Aeronautical Society where he met the artist and aviation pioneer José Weiss. Weiss was performing experiments with gliders using an inherently stable wing design based on the seed-pods of the Zanonia macrocarpa which he was to patent in 1908. Unfortunately Handley Page, in his enthusiasm for aviation, started experimental work at Johnson and Phillips without authorisation: this was interpreted by the board as attempted fraud, and he was dismissed, leaving in charge his assistant, A.R. Low, who would later become an aircraft designer for Vickers.

He immediately set up his own business, with an office in Woolwich, and accepted a commission to build an aircraft for G.P. Deverall-Saul. After some searching for a suitable flying ground he leased a small stretch of marshland and a shed at Creekmouth in Essex. Here he constructed his first aircraft, a canard configuration glider with a tricycle undercarriage and wing of the Weiss pattern. Handley Page had entered into an agreement whereby he could use Weiss's patents in exchange for making an improved wing for his next glider, and it was agreed to take a stand at the Aero Exhibition to be held at Olympia in 1909. In June 1909 he established his business as a limited company, with an authorised capital of £10,000.

Neither the glider nor the aircraft built for Saul-Deverell, which was powered only by a 7 hp (5.2 kW) engine, was successful but Saul-Deverell ordered a second machine and two other commissions were received. Handley Page also set about designing and building his first powered aircraft, the Bluebird (so-called because of the blue-grey rubberised fabric with which it was covered), intended for the 1910 Aero exhibition. As well as complete aircraft, the company also supplied metal fixings for aircraft and aircraft propellers, two of which were used by one of the Willows airships. After it was exhibited at Olympia, Handley Page set about attempting to learn to fly using the Bluebird. A brief straight flight was first achieved on 26 May 1910, but after a few more similar efforts Handley Page's first attempt at a turn ended in a crash. It was rebuilt with a slightly more powerful engine and the addition of wing-warping for lateral control, but it proved no more successful and was abandoned and work begun on a new, larger, monoplane.

At this time he was also active in the reform of the Royal Aeronautical Society and gained additional income from journalism and lecturing, giving classes at Finsbury on electrical engineering and in 1911 obtaining a post as a lecturer in aeronautics at the Northampton Polytechnic Institute in Clerkenwell, London. Here he had a wind-tunnel built, and he also sold the Bluebird to the Institute for use as an instructional airframe.

He married Una Thynne (1890–1957) in 1918. They had three daughters. His nephew was Geoffrey Page, a World War 2 fighter ace.

His positions included:

President of the Society of British Aircraft Constructors (SBAC) (1938–39 – he also served as honorary Treasurer and chairman);

President of the Royal Aeronautical Society (RAeS) (1945–47 – and longstanding member of its Council);

Vice-Chairman of the Air Registration Board (for 20 years);

President of the Institute of Transport (1945–46); and

chairman of the board of Governors of the College of Aeronautics, Cranfield.

Master of the Worshipful Company of Coachmakers and Coach Harness Makers (1943–44)

Deputy lieutenant (1954–56) and later lieutenant (1956–60) of the county of Middlesex

Chairman of Council of the City and Guilds of London Institute (1949–61)