Joseph Summers
Encyclopedia
Captain Joseph "Mutt" Summers, CBE
(10 March 1904–16 March 1954), was chief test pilot
at Vickers-Armstrongs and Supermarine
.
During his career Summers flew numerous prototype aircraft (a record of 54 by a test pilot), from the Supermarine Spitfire
, to the Vickers Valiant
. He also holds the current second place record for 366 general types tested, below Eric "Winkle" Brown's 487.
Summers also holds the highest amount of flying hours of any test pilot in the world; he clocked up over 5,600 flying hours.
Summers was granted a short-service commission in the RAF at the age of 21, and learned to fly on Avro 504
s and Sopwith Snipe
s at No. 2 F.T.S. (Flying Training School). He passed out from RAF Digby
in 1924 and was posted to No. 29 Fighter Squadron
, equipped with Snipes and later with Gloster Grebe
s.
After six months he was transferred to the single-seater flight at Martlesham Heath, where he helped to test, among other types, the Gloster Gamecock
, Bristol Bulldog
, Hawker Hornbill
and Avro Avenger
. He flew for five years at the Royal Aircraft Establishment
at Martlesham Heath
, including periods on loan to Blackburn Aircraft
and Avro
. He left his post at Martlesham in May, 1929, and the following month joined Vickers Aviation Ltd
, as their chief test pilot. A year later he became chief test pilot to the Supermarine Aviation Works
and in that capacity flew the first Supermarine Spitfire
in 1936.
Summers tested numerous fighters and bombers through the 1930s. He flew the prototype of Barnes Wallis' geodetic aircraft the Vickers Wellesley
bomber in June 1935. He was landing this aircraft on 23 July when the port undercarriage collapsed, resulting in several months in the workshops to repair the serious damage to the wing.
He flew the protoytpe Wellington Bomber, K4049, with Wallis and Westbrook (factory manager) aboard, at Brooklands on 15 June 1936. It was to have been called the Crecy, but the change to Wellington (to commemorate the Iron Duke), started the practice of using the initial letter W for Vickers aircraft that employed Barnes Wallis geodetic structures.
Through the late 1930s and into the 1940s Summers continued to test numerous aircraft and iron out issues with existing airframes.
Postwar career
Summer's flew Britain’s first postwar airliner the Vickers VC.1 Viking
, adapted from the Wellington bomber, on 22 June 1945. This was followed by the military troop transport the Vickers Valetta
, which Summers flew on 30 June 1947 at Brooklands.
The prototype of the turboprop civil transport Vickers Viscount
was flown from Wisley Airfield
by Summers and Jock Bryce for 10 minutes on 16 July 1948.
The very last prototype to have Summers at the controls on its maiden flight was the Vickers Valiant
, once again with Jock Bryce as co-pilot, flown from Wisley Airfield
on 18 May 1951.
Accidents
Summers experienced a number of accidents and crashes during his career. During a test flight on the first dual Gloster Grebe, the aircraft spun flat to within 150 ft of the ground, coming out completely stalled with full engine. In a terminal velocity dive on the Hawfinch a fuselage bay collapsed at about t.v. speed; the anchorage for the Sutton harness was in the tail and this pulled him back and nearly broke his neck. While testing the first Bulldog he spun down from 10,000 ft to 2,000 ft, having tried to abandon the machine at 4,000 ft. He had released his harness and was on the centre section when the machine stopped rotating and went into a dive, enabling him to regain control by pushing the stick with his foot. Thereupon he climbed back into the cockpit and landed.
His most dramatic escape was in 1945, when structural failure in a Vickers Warwick
applied full rudder at 3,000 ft over Weybridge
, Surrey
. Summers had no alternative but to crash land the aircraft into an avenue of trees, with a ploughed field at the end. When the aircraft had come to rest flames emerged from both engine air intakes. Fortunately, some farm labourers had time to get into the fuselage and extricate Summers and his flight engineer before a major fire started.
flew Summers in a Vickers' Miles Falcon
from Martlesham to Eastleigh Aerodrome, where he was to fly the new F.37/34 fighter, which on arrival had been changed to K5054
.
Summers (then chief test pilot for Vickers (Aviation) Ltd.) took the prototype K5054 on its first flight from Eastleigh Aerodrome (later Southampton Airport
). After a short eight-minute flight, Summers landed the prototype.
K5054 was fitted with a new propeller and Summers flew the aircraft again on 10 March; during this flight the undercarriage was retracted for the first time. After the fourth flight a new engine was fitted, and Summers left the test-flying to his assistants, Jeffrey Quill and George Pickering. They soon discovered that the Spitfire was a very good aircraft, but not perfect. The rudder was over-sensitive and the top speed was just 330 mph (528 km/h), a little faster than Sydney Camm's new Merlin-powered
Hawker Hurricane
.
A new and better-shaped wooden propeller meant the Spitfire reached 348 mph (557 km/h) in level flight in mid-May, then Summers flew the K5054 to RAF Martlesham Heath and handed the aircraft over to Squadron Leader Anderson of the Aeroplane & Armament Experimental Establishment (A&AEE).
, his assistant and protégé, who took over testing single-seater prototypes during the war.
During this period of the war, all leading test pilots of the main aircraft manufacturers were ordered by RAF Command to support Groups No. 10
, 11
, 12
and 13
. Most test pilots came from Brooklands
where the central manufacture and testing of military aircraft took place. Summers became a supervising RAF fighter tester specifically for No. 11 Group RAF
, commanded by Air Vice Marshal Keith Park
, during the Battle of Britain
. Being a test pilot in this capacity and a former RAF officer, Summers' duty was as a home guard non-combatant position.
During the summer of 1940 Summers was to fly between all No. 11 Group's airfields in south east England to test fighter aircraft and ensure all they were safe to be used by 11 Group pilots after each battle. Any problems were reported to each airfield's maintenance crews. Also pilots were issued requisition tickets for a new aircraft if Summers found an aircraft to be unserviceable.
Prop failure 1940
During mid-1940, Jeffrey Quill informed Summers about a problem with propeller fatigue on early versions of the Mk1 Hurricane and Spitfire. The problem could lead to the propeller detaching itself during flight - something Quill had experienced himself.
Early in the Battle of Britain
during an attack over south east England, pilot James Harry "Ginger" Lacey of 501 Squadron
from RAF Middle Wallop, complained he had a problem with his Hurricane's engine, and felt it was too dangerous to accelerate any faster than he was.
After Lacey landed the Hurricane, Summers took it up on a five-minute test flight. At 1500 ft Summers noticed a problem with the engine when accelerating to a certain speed. Whilst at full throttle, the propeller sheared off the aircraft. The prop ripped off the cowling and as Summers had no parachute with him he to glide the plane back to the air field.
Dambusters
In preparation for the Dambusters Raid
in May 1943, Summers was test pilot for the experimental bouncing bomb
dropped from a Vickers Wellington
near Portland
, Dorset
, a job given to him by close friend Barnes Wallis. He was depicted by Patrick Barr
in the film made of the events.
In his career he clocked up over 5,600 flying hours, which is the equivalent of taking off in an aircraft on 1 January and landing at the end of October. This is the highest amount of flying hours currently achieved by any test pilot. By 1946 he had tested 310 different aircraft.
Summers numbered among his firsts the first flight of a pure jet civil aircraft (Nene-Viking) on 6 April 1948; first flight of civil turboprop airliner, (Vickers Viscount
) on 16 July 1948; initial flight of Britain's first four-jet bomber (Vickers Valiant
) on 18 May 18, 1951.
By the time he retired he had achieved 366 general types, second only to the Guinness world record
holder Eric "Winkle" Brown who has 487. Summers still holds the world record of 54 "Prototype First Flights".
, Yorkshire. He had a daughter, Josephine Ann Summers, born in 1931.
Summers died on 16 March 1954 during complications during colon
surgery, six days after his 50th birthday. He was buried in Weybridge Cemetery, Surrey after a ceremony in Westminster Abbey.
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
(10 March 1904–16 March 1954), was chief test pilot
Test pilot
A test pilot is an aviator who flies new and modified aircraft in specific maneuvers, known as flight test techniques or FTTs, allowing the results to be measured and the design to be evaluated....
at Vickers-Armstrongs and Supermarine
Supermarine
Supermarine was a British aircraft manufacturer that became famous for producing a range of sea planes and the Supermarine Spitfire fighter. The name now belongs to an English motorboat manufacturer.-History:...
.
During his career Summers flew numerous prototype aircraft (a record of 54 by a test pilot), from the Supermarine Spitfire
Supermarine Spitfire
The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft that was used by the Royal Air Force and many other Allied countries throughout the Second World War. The Spitfire continued to be used as a front line fighter and in secondary roles into the 1950s...
, to the Vickers Valiant
Vickers Valiant
The Vickers-Armstrongs Valiant was a British four-jet bomber, once part of the Royal Air Force's V bomber nuclear force in the 1950s and 1960s...
. He also holds the current second place record for 366 general types tested, below Eric "Winkle" Brown's 487.
Summers also holds the highest amount of flying hours of any test pilot in the world; he clocked up over 5,600 flying hours.
Career
Captain Joseph "Mutt" Summers received his nickname "Mutt" during his early days in the RAF from his habit of urinating before take off on the small rear wheel or skid of the aircraft he was testing. This led to his being accused of christening his aircraft like a dog marking its territory. He did this because he was aware during some crashes a full bladder could prove fatal.Summers was granted a short-service commission in the RAF at the age of 21, and learned to fly on Avro 504
Avro 504
The Avro 504 was a World War I biplane aircraft made by the Avro aircraft company and under licence by others. Production during the War totalled 8,970 and continued for almost 20 years, making it the most-produced aircraft of any kind that served in World War I, in any military capacity, during...
s and Sopwith Snipe
Sopwith Snipe
The Sopwith 7F.1 Snipe was a British single-seat biplane fighter of the Royal Air Force . It was designed and built by the Sopwith Aviation Company during the First World War, and came into squadron service a few weeks before the end of that conflict, in late 1918.The Snipe was not a fast aircraft...
s at No. 2 F.T.S. (Flying Training School). He passed out from RAF Digby
RAF Digby
RAF Digby is a Royal Air Force station which, since March 2005, has been operated by the Ministry of Defence's Joint Service Signals Organisation, part of the Intelligence Collection Group. Formerly a training and fighter airfield, it is currently a tri-service military signals installation located...
in 1924 and was posted to No. 29 Fighter Squadron
No. 29 Squadron RAF
No. 29 Squadron of the Royal Air Force was first raised in 1915, and is one of the world's oldest fighter squadrons. The second British squadron to receive the Eurofighter Typhoon, it is currently the Operational Conversion Unit for the RAF's newest fighter.-Service in World War I:This unit was...
, equipped with Snipes and later with Gloster Grebe
Gloster Grebe
-See also:-References:NotesBibliography* James, Derek N. Gloster Aircraft since 1917. London: Putnam and Company Ltd., 1987. ISBN 0-85177-807-0.* Thetford, Owen. Aircraft of the Royal Air Force 1918-57. London:Putnam, First edition 1957....
s.
After six months he was transferred to the single-seater flight at Martlesham Heath, where he helped to test, among other types, the Gloster Gamecock
Gloster Gamecock
|-See also:-Bibliography:* Green, William and Swanborough, Gordon. "The Era-Ending Gamecock". Air Enthusiast, Number 21, April-July 1983.Bromley, Kent:Pilot Press. p. 1-8, 58-62. ISSN 0143-5450....
, Bristol Bulldog
Bristol Bulldog
|-See also:-References:NotesBibliography* Andrews, C.F. The Bristol Bulldog . Leatherhead, Surrey, UK: Profile Publications Ltd., 1965.* Barnes, C.H. Bristol Aircraft Since 1910. London: Putnam, 1964....
, Hawker Hornbill
Hawker Hornbill
-References:*Hawker Aircraft since 1920 by Francis K Mason - pub Putnam 1961...
and Avro Avenger
Avro Avenger
-External links:* *...
. He flew for five years at the Royal Aircraft Establishment
Royal Aircraft Establishment
The Royal Aircraft Establishment , was a British research establishment, known by several different names during its history, that eventually came under the aegis of the UK Ministry of Defence , before finally losing its identity in mergers with other institutions.The first site was at Farnborough...
at Martlesham Heath
Martlesham Heath
Martlesham Heath village is situated 6 miles east of Ipswich, in Suffolk, England. This was an ancient area of heathland and latterly the site of Martlesham Heath Airfield...
, including periods on loan to Blackburn Aircraft
Blackburn Aircraft
Blackburn Aircraft Limited was a British aircraft manufacturer that concentrated mainly on naval and maritime aircraft during the first part of the 20th century.-History:...
and Avro
Avro
Avro was a British aircraft manufacturer, with numerous landmark designs such as the Avro 504 trainer in the First World War, the Avro Lancaster, one of the pre-eminent bombers of the Second World War, and the delta wing Avro Vulcan, a stalwart of the Cold War.-Early history:One of the world's...
. He left his post at Martlesham in May, 1929, and the following month joined Vickers Aviation Ltd
Vickers
Vickers was a famous name in British engineering that existed through many companies from 1828 until 1999.-Early history:Vickers was formed in Sheffield as a steel foundry by the miller Edward Vickers and his father-in-law George Naylor in 1828. Naylor was a partner in the foundry Naylor &...
, as their chief test pilot. A year later he became chief test pilot to the Supermarine Aviation Works
Supermarine
Supermarine was a British aircraft manufacturer that became famous for producing a range of sea planes and the Supermarine Spitfire fighter. The name now belongs to an English motorboat manufacturer.-History:...
and in that capacity flew the first Supermarine Spitfire
Supermarine Spitfire
The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft that was used by the Royal Air Force and many other Allied countries throughout the Second World War. The Spitfire continued to be used as a front line fighter and in secondary roles into the 1950s...
in 1936.
Summers tested numerous fighters and bombers through the 1930s. He flew the prototype of Barnes Wallis' geodetic aircraft the Vickers Wellesley
Vickers Wellesley
The Vickers Wellesley was a British 1930s light bomber built by Vickers-Armstrongs at Brooklands near Weybridge, Surrey, for the Royal Air Force...
bomber in June 1935. He was landing this aircraft on 23 July when the port undercarriage collapsed, resulting in several months in the workshops to repair the serious damage to the wing.
He flew the protoytpe Wellington Bomber, K4049, with Wallis and Westbrook (factory manager) aboard, at Brooklands on 15 June 1936. It was to have been called the Crecy, but the change to Wellington (to commemorate the Iron Duke), started the practice of using the initial letter W for Vickers aircraft that employed Barnes Wallis geodetic structures.
Through the late 1930s and into the 1940s Summers continued to test numerous aircraft and iron out issues with existing airframes.
Postwar career
Summer's flew Britain’s first postwar airliner the Vickers VC.1 Viking
Vickers VC.1 Viking
The Vickers VC.1 Viking was a British twin-engine short-range airliner derived from the Vickers Wellington bomber and built by Vickers Armstrongs Limited at Brooklands near Weybridge in Surrey. In the aftermath of the Second World War, the Viking was an important airliner with British airlines...
, adapted from the Wellington bomber, on 22 June 1945. This was followed by the military troop transport the Vickers Valetta
Vickers Valetta
|-See also:-References:NotesBibliography* Andrews, C.F. and E.B. Morgan. Vickers Aircraft since 1908. London: Putnam, 1988. ISBN 0-85177-815-1....
, which Summers flew on 30 June 1947 at Brooklands.
The prototype of the turboprop civil transport Vickers Viscount
Vickers Viscount
The Vickers Viscount was a British medium-range turboprop airliner first flown in 1948 by Vickers-Armstrongs, making it the first such aircraft to enter service in the world...
was flown from Wisley Airfield
Wisley Airfield
-History:Built in 1944, the airfield was built for the flight testing of aircraft built at Vickers aircraft factory at the nearby Brooklands. New aircraft types making their first flights from Wisley included the Vickers VC.1 Viking, Valetta, Varsity, Viscount and Valiant...
by Summers and Jock Bryce for 10 minutes on 16 July 1948.
The very last prototype to have Summers at the controls on its maiden flight was the Vickers Valiant
Vickers Valiant
The Vickers-Armstrongs Valiant was a British four-jet bomber, once part of the Royal Air Force's V bomber nuclear force in the 1950s and 1960s...
, once again with Jock Bryce as co-pilot, flown from Wisley Airfield
Wisley Airfield
-History:Built in 1944, the airfield was built for the flight testing of aircraft built at Vickers aircraft factory at the nearby Brooklands. New aircraft types making their first flights from Wisley included the Vickers VC.1 Viking, Valetta, Varsity, Viscount and Valiant...
on 18 May 1951.
Accidents
Summers experienced a number of accidents and crashes during his career. During a test flight on the first dual Gloster Grebe, the aircraft spun flat to within 150 ft of the ground, coming out completely stalled with full engine. In a terminal velocity dive on the Hawfinch a fuselage bay collapsed at about t.v. speed; the anchorage for the Sutton harness was in the tail and this pulled him back and nearly broke his neck. While testing the first Bulldog he spun down from 10,000 ft to 2,000 ft, having tried to abandon the machine at 4,000 ft. He had released his harness and was on the centre section when the machine stopped rotating and went into a dive, enabling him to regain control by pushing the stick with his foot. Thereupon he climbed back into the cockpit and landed.
His most dramatic escape was in 1945, when structural failure in a Vickers Warwick
Vickers Warwick
The Vickers Warwick was a multi-purpose British aircraft used during the Second World War. Built by Vickers-Armstrongs at Brooklands, Surrey, the Warwick was used by the Royal Air Force as a transport, air-sea rescue and maritime reconnaissance platform, and by the civilian British Overseas...
applied full rudder at 3,000 ft over Weybridge
Weybridge
Weybridge is a town in the Elmbridge district of Surrey in South East England. It is bounded to the north by the River Thames at the mouth of the River Wey, from which it gets its name...
, Surrey
Surrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
. Summers had no alternative but to crash land the aircraft into an avenue of trees, with a ploughed field at the end. When the aircraft had come to rest flames emerged from both engine air intakes. Fortunately, some farm labourers had time to get into the fuselage and extricate Summers and his flight engineer before a major fire started.
K5054 prototype Supermarine Spitfire
On 5 March 1936 Jeffrey QuillJeffrey Quill
Jeffrey Kindersley Quill OBE AFC FRAeS was a British Royal Air Force officer, RNVR officer and Test pilot and the second man to fly the Supermarine Spitfire after Vickers' chief test pilot, Joseph "Mutt" Summers. After succeeding Summers as Vickers' chief test pilot, Quill test-flew every mark of...
flew Summers in a Vickers' Miles Falcon
Miles Falcon
-See also:-Bibliography:*Amos, Peter Miles Aircraft - The Early Years - The Story of F G Miles and his Aeroplanes, 1925-1939. Tonbridge, Kent: Air-Britain Ltd, 2009. ISBN 978-0-85130-410-6....
from Martlesham to Eastleigh Aerodrome, where he was to fly the new F.37/34 fighter, which on arrival had been changed to K5054
Supermarine Spitfire (early Merlin powered variants)
The British Supermarine Spitfire was the only fighter aircraft of the Second World War to fight in front line service, from the beginnings of the conflict, in September 1939, through to the end in August 1945. Post-war the Spitfire's service career continued into the 1950s...
.
Summers (then chief test pilot for Vickers (Aviation) Ltd.) took the prototype K5054 on its first flight from Eastleigh Aerodrome (later Southampton Airport
Southampton Airport
Southampton Airport is the 20th largest airport in the UK, located north north-east of Southampton, in the Borough of Eastleigh within Hampshire, England....
). After a short eight-minute flight, Summers landed the prototype.
K5054 was fitted with a new propeller and Summers flew the aircraft again on 10 March; during this flight the undercarriage was retracted for the first time. After the fourth flight a new engine was fitted, and Summers left the test-flying to his assistants, Jeffrey Quill and George Pickering. They soon discovered that the Spitfire was a very good aircraft, but not perfect. The rudder was over-sensitive and the top speed was just 330 mph (528 km/h), a little faster than Sydney Camm's new Merlin-powered
Rolls-Royce Merlin
The Rolls-Royce Merlin is a British liquid-cooled, V-12, piston aero engine, of 27-litre capacity. Rolls-Royce Limited designed and built the engine which was initially known as the PV-12: the PV-12 became known as the Merlin following the company convention of naming its piston aero engines after...
Hawker Hurricane
Hawker Hurricane
The Hawker Hurricane is a British single-seat fighter aircraft that was designed and predominantly built by Hawker Aircraft Ltd for the Royal Air Force...
.
A new and better-shaped wooden propeller meant the Spitfire reached 348 mph (557 km/h) in level flight in mid-May, then Summers flew the K5054 to RAF Martlesham Heath and handed the aircraft over to Squadron Leader Anderson of the Aeroplane & Armament Experimental Establishment (A&AEE).
Second World War and Battle of Britain
Shortly before the Second World War, Summers was succeeded by Jeffrey QuillJeffrey Quill
Jeffrey Kindersley Quill OBE AFC FRAeS was a British Royal Air Force officer, RNVR officer and Test pilot and the second man to fly the Supermarine Spitfire after Vickers' chief test pilot, Joseph "Mutt" Summers. After succeeding Summers as Vickers' chief test pilot, Quill test-flew every mark of...
, his assistant and protégé, who took over testing single-seater prototypes during the war.
During this period of the war, all leading test pilots of the main aircraft manufacturers were ordered by RAF Command to support Groups No. 10
No. 10 Group RAF
No. 10 Group of the Royal Air Force was formed on 1 April 1918 in No. 2 Area. On 8 May of the next year it was transferred to South-Western Area. In 1919 it was transferred to Coastal Area where it remained until it was disbanded on 18 January 1932....
, 11
No. 11 Group RAF
No. 11 Group was a group in the Royal Air Force for various periods in the 20th century, finally disbanding in 1996. Its most famous service was during 1940 when it defended London and the south-east against the attacks of the Luftwaffe during the Battle of Britain.-First World War:No. 11 Group was...
, 12
No. 12 Group RAF
No. 12 Group of the Royal Air Force was a command organization that exisited over two separate periods, namely the end of World War I when it had a training function and from just prior to World War II until the early 1960s when it was tasked with an air defence role.No. 12 Group was first formed...
and 13
No. 13 Group RAF
No. 13 Group was a group in the Royal Air Force for various periods in the 20th century. It is most famous for having the responsibility for defending the North of Great Britain during the Battle of Britain-World War I:...
. Most test pilots came from Brooklands
Brooklands
Brooklands was a motor racing circuit and aerodrome built near Weybridge in Surrey, England. It opened in 1907, and was the world's first purpose-built motorsport venue, as well as one of Britain's first airfields...
where the central manufacture and testing of military aircraft took place. Summers became a supervising RAF fighter tester specifically for No. 11 Group RAF
No. 11 Group RAF
No. 11 Group was a group in the Royal Air Force for various periods in the 20th century, finally disbanding in 1996. Its most famous service was during 1940 when it defended London and the south-east against the attacks of the Luftwaffe during the Battle of Britain.-First World War:No. 11 Group was...
, commanded by Air Vice Marshal Keith Park
Keith Park
Air Chief Marshal Sir Keith Rodney Park GCB, KBE, MC & Bar, DFC, RAF was a New Zealand soldier, First World War flying ace and Second World War Royal Air Force commander...
, during the Battle of Britain
Battle of Britain
The Battle of Britain is the name given to the World War II air campaign waged by the German Air Force against the United Kingdom during the summer and autumn of 1940...
. Being a test pilot in this capacity and a former RAF officer, Summers' duty was as a home guard non-combatant position.
During the summer of 1940 Summers was to fly between all No. 11 Group's airfields in south east England to test fighter aircraft and ensure all they were safe to be used by 11 Group pilots after each battle. Any problems were reported to each airfield's maintenance crews. Also pilots were issued requisition tickets for a new aircraft if Summers found an aircraft to be unserviceable.
Prop failure 1940
During mid-1940, Jeffrey Quill informed Summers about a problem with propeller fatigue on early versions of the Mk1 Hurricane and Spitfire. The problem could lead to the propeller detaching itself during flight - something Quill had experienced himself.
Early in the Battle of Britain
Battle of Britain
The Battle of Britain is the name given to the World War II air campaign waged by the German Air Force against the United Kingdom during the summer and autumn of 1940...
during an attack over south east England, pilot James Harry "Ginger" Lacey of 501 Squadron
No. 501 Squadron RAF
No 501 Squadron was the fourteenth of the twenty-one flying units in the Royal Auxiliary Air Force, the volunteer reserve part of the British Royal Air Force. The squadron won seven battle honours, flying Hurricane, Spitfire and Tempest fighter aircraft during World War II, and was one of the most...
from RAF Middle Wallop, complained he had a problem with his Hurricane's engine, and felt it was too dangerous to accelerate any faster than he was.
After Lacey landed the Hurricane, Summers took it up on a five-minute test flight. At 1500 ft Summers noticed a problem with the engine when accelerating to a certain speed. Whilst at full throttle, the propeller sheared off the aircraft. The prop ripped off the cowling and as Summers had no parachute with him he to glide the plane back to the air field.
Dambusters
In preparation for the Dambusters Raid
Operation Chastise
Operation Chastise was an attack on German dams carried out on 16–17 May 1943 by Royal Air Force No. 617 Squadron, subsequently known as the "Dambusters", using a specially developed "bouncing bomb" invented and developed by Barnes Wallis...
in May 1943, Summers was test pilot for the experimental bouncing bomb
Bouncing bomb
A bouncing bomb is a bomb designed specifically to bounce to a target across water in a calculated manner, in order to avoid obstacles such as torpedo nets, and to allow both the bomb's speed on arrival at the target and the timing of its detonation to be pre-determined...
dropped from a Vickers Wellington
Vickers Wellington
The Vickers Wellington was a British twin-engine, long range medium bomber designed in the mid-1930s at Brooklands in Weybridge, Surrey, by Vickers-Armstrongs' Chief Designer, R. K. Pierson. It was widely used as a night bomber in the early years of the Second World War, before being displaced as a...
near Portland
Isle of Portland
The Isle of Portland is a limestone tied island, long by wide, in the English Channel. Portland is south of the resort of Weymouth, forming the southernmost point of the county of Dorset, England. A tombolo over which runs the A354 road connects it to Chesil Beach and the mainland. Portland and...
, Dorset
Dorset
Dorset , is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The county town is Dorchester which is situated in the south. The Hampshire towns of Bournemouth and Christchurch joined the county with the reorganisation of local government in 1974...
, a job given to him by close friend Barnes Wallis. He was depicted by Patrick Barr
Patrick Barr
Patrick David Barr was a British film and television actor.Born in Akola, India, Patrick Barr went from stage to screen with The Merry Men of Sherwood . He spent the 1930s playing various beneficent authority figures and "reliable friend" types...
in the film made of the events.
Records
What made him the best at what he was, and why he was predominantly chosen above other test pilots, was his unique ability to identify issues with any aircraft just by sitting the cockpit and listening to the sound the aircraft made in flight.In his career he clocked up over 5,600 flying hours, which is the equivalent of taking off in an aircraft on 1 January and landing at the end of October. This is the highest amount of flying hours currently achieved by any test pilot. By 1946 he had tested 310 different aircraft.
Summers numbered among his firsts the first flight of a pure jet civil aircraft (Nene-Viking) on 6 April 1948; first flight of civil turboprop airliner, (Vickers Viscount
Vickers Viscount
The Vickers Viscount was a British medium-range turboprop airliner first flown in 1948 by Vickers-Armstrongs, making it the first such aircraft to enter service in the world...
) on 16 July 1948; initial flight of Britain's first four-jet bomber (Vickers Valiant
Vickers Valiant
The Vickers-Armstrongs Valiant was a British four-jet bomber, once part of the Royal Air Force's V bomber nuclear force in the 1950s and 1960s...
) on 18 May 18, 1951.
By the time he retired he had achieved 366 general types, second only to the Guinness world record
Guinness World Records
Guinness World Records, known until 2000 as The Guinness Book of Records , is a reference book published annually, containing a collection of world records, both human achievements and the extremes of the natural world...
holder Eric "Winkle" Brown who has 487. Summers still holds the world record of 54 "Prototype First Flights".
Personal life
Summers married Dulcie Jeanette Belcher in 1922 in SculcoatesSculcoates
Sculcoates is a suburb of Kingston upon Hull, north of the city centre, in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It had a railway station called Sculcoates railway station but it was closed on 9 June 1912.- Amenities :...
, Yorkshire. He had a daughter, Josephine Ann Summers, born in 1931.
Summers died on 16 March 1954 during complications during colon
Colon (anatomy)
The colon is the last part of the digestive system in most vertebrates; it extracts water and salt from solid wastes before they are eliminated from the body, and is the site in which flora-aided fermentation of unabsorbed material occurs. Unlike the small intestine, the colon does not play a...
surgery, six days after his 50th birthday. He was buried in Weybridge Cemetery, Surrey after a ceremony in Westminster Abbey.
Honours and awards
- 9 January 1946 - Commander of the Order of the British EmpireOrder of the British EmpireThe Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
to Joseph Summers, Esq., Chief Test Pilot, Vickers Armstrongs Ltd.
Quotes
External links
- Supermarine Spitfire prototype
- Spitfires and Spitfire pilots
- Film of prototype Spitfire taking off
- "Mutt" Summers obituary in FlightFlight InternationalFlight International is a global aerospace weekly publication produced in the UK. Founded in 1909, it is the world's oldest continuously published aviation news magazine...
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