Obituary

CEng MRAeS
1932-2020

Born in Cambridge on 28 March 1932, Mick was educated firstly at Park Street Primary School in Cambridge. In 1943 he gained a scholarship to Perse Boys School and it was there that he first became involved with aviation when he joined the Air Training Corps.

​He gained a place at Trinity College Cambridge in 1951 studying Engineering under R S Hawthorne, graduating in 1954 with a BA in engineering, later upgraded to an MA.

His first post in aviation was with Bristol Siddeley Aero Engines in 1954 where he worked under Dr Stanley Hooker in a team led by Gordon Lewis.

He worked on several projects during the next 12 years, including the Pegasus, BS100 and the two-shaft BS143, the engine that would have been used in the Tornado. He was also slated to lead the project for the engine on the Hawker P1154 supersonic VTOL aircraft.

During his time in Bristol he became married to Gloria and had four sons Guy, Neil, Paul and John.

In 1966 Rolls-Royce purchased Bristol Siddeley Engines. Mick became part of Gordon Lewis’s team working on the three-shaft RB199. He moved to Munich to be the Turbounion Marketing Manager co-ordinating all RB199 marketing activities within Rolls-Royce, MTU and Fiat in 1976. During his time in that post he went on several overseas tours to try to sell the Tornado, including Canada and Australia. Both countries eventually purchasing the F-18 instead.

From Derby in 1980 Mick went to Lockheed at Burbank in California to be Rolls-Royce’s technical representative on the RB211 for the L1011 TriStar. Leaving Lockheed in 1983 he moved to Pratt & Whitney at East Hartford and became a representative for MTU working on the PW2037 and V2500 engines.

Retiring from MTU in 1996 to live in Hampton Court. Throughout his retirement he kept up his avid interest in aviation, becoming a member of the RAeS Historical Group.

Very much missed by his widow Gloria and four sons.

Tim Hall
FRAeS