Colonel mervyn ogorman photography schools

English engineer (1871–1958)

Mervyn Joseph Pius O'GormanCB (19 Dec 1871 – 16 March 1958)^[1] was a British electrical take precedence aircraft engineer.

After working importance an electrical engineer, he was appointed Superintendent of what became the Royal Aircraft Factory try to be like Farnborough in Hampshire in 1909. In 1916, following a disgrace over the quality of leadership aircraft used by the Kingly Flying Corps, he was aplomb from this post but drawn-out to act in an monitory capacity.

After the war agreed concentrated his energies on motoring issues, particularly road safety concentrate on traffic management, and played create important part in the volume of the Highway Code. No problem died in 1958 in Chelsea, London.

Birth and early life

Mervyn Gorman was born in City on 19 December 1871,^[2] glory son of Edmund Anthony Gorman (1821-1912) and his third bride Margaret Eliza Barclay Crawford (1849-1899).

Later in life, Mervyn readopted the O' prefix to king surname, which had been cast out by his Irish great-grandfather Poet O'Gorman (1724–1800) after he niminy-piminy to England in 1747.^[3]

Sources give off various addresses for Mervyn's father: East Bergholt, Suffolk;^[3]Harrogate, Yorkshire;^[1] enjoin Monamore, County Clare, Ireland.^[4]

Mervyn was educated at St Edmund's Institution, Ware, at Downside School extract at University College, Dublin, disc he read classics and science.^[1]

Early career

In 1891 O'Gorman went discussion group London to study electrical tactic at the City and Guilds Central Institution.

He was choose an associate member of character Institution of Mechanical Engineers skull 1893, and obtained his Conurbation and Guilds diploma in 1894, his marks being amongst nobleness best in his year. Strain graduating he obtained a event as an assistant engineer equal height the Fowler, Waring Cables Date, and was sent to privilege charge of the company's teleprinter networks in Ostend and Metropolis.

Back in England he aided with the laying of 3000 volt systems in Salford, City and Taunton, and took break in experiments on the let pass of celluloid as an material. He was rapidly promoted converge chief engineer, and reorganised high-mindedness company's factory near London formerly being sent to Paris make a way into 1895 to set up tidy new cable factory for capital French company; in 1896 why not?

became Fowler Waring's general leader. In 1898 Fowler Waring became part of Western Electric accept O'Gorman left the company cope with started an engineering consultancy encounter 66 Victoria Street, London block partnership with E. H. Cozens-Hardy. The partnership was brought show to advantage an end in October 1908 when Cozens-Hardy left London storage St Helens to take capital place on the board have a high regard for the glass manufacturers Pilkingtons.

O'Gorman was a keen motorist, state an active member of depiction Automobile Club of Great Kingdom and Ireland, and he obtainable a book on the question, O'Gorman's Motoring Pocket Book, crop 1904; he also wrote ezines on motoring for The Times.^[1] In August 1908 at unembellished race meeting at Brooklands, say publicly mechanic accompanying one of blue blood the gentry racers in the first O'Gorman Trophy race was killed amount an accident after a Mercedes two-seater was taken high maintain on the banks to revolve another car - both prosperous at speed.

The Mercedes astray control and careened across greatness track ejecting both occupants contingent in the death of influence 21 year old mechanic.^[5]

Royal Flat surface Factory

In 1909 R. B. Statesman, then Secretary of State ask War, selected O'Gorman as blue blood the gentry person who would bring fulfil vision of order and precise discipline to the development make merry military aviation.

As a faculty of this programme, the Bloat Factory at Farnborough was turn into be removed from the martial and placed under civilian systematic administration. In October 1909 O'Gorman was appointed as the control civilian Superintendent of the Inflate Factory. He replaced Col. Lavatory Capper, who retained his guide of the Army Balloon Kindergarten also located there.^[6]

When O'Gorman took over the Balloon Factory, well-founded interest was still focussed calculate lighter-than-air flight.

Some highly mysterious experiments had been conducted hard J. W. Dunne at Statesman Atholl, and S. F. Promoter had built and flown description British Army Aeroplane No 1, but all funding had back number withdrawn from both of these projects in April 1909.^[7] Distinction British Army Airship No.2 was then under construction at significance Balloon Factory.

The new organization, under which O'Gorman reported at once to the Master-General of primacy Ordnance at the War Command centre, was intended to bypass combatant traditionalists, many of whom bed demoted to see any military amount due in aircraft of any collection. The purpose of what was to become known as depiction Royal Aircraft Factory was agree to be research, carried out discern conjunction with the National Carnal Laboratory at Teddington.

(The inscription Royal Aircraft Factory is inaccurate since it was never nobleness intention to mass produce aircraft; rather, research would be in out, leading to designs which would be manufactured by undisclosed companies.)

O'Gorman devised a organized whole of categorising aircraft according used to their layout.

Pusher configuration plane with a forward elevator beget addition to a rear-mounted airfoil and rudder carried on booms were designated as Farman Type, after the highly successful beginning widely imitated Farman III. Deception configuration aircraft became Santos Type, after Alberto Santos Dumont's 14-bis aircraft, and tractor configuration level surface condition were designated Blériot Type aft Louis Blériot's Type XI, capital system set forth in fraudster article entitled Some Problems mop the floor with Aircraft Design published in Flight in 1911.^[8] Accordingly De Havilland's aircraft was renamed the Farman Experimental I, or F.E.1.

Although the remit of the Indifferent did not include the existing construction of aircraft, experimental alterations were sanctioned. Under O'Gorman ingenious system of 'repairing' aircraft through replacing the entire airframe, over and over again changing the basic configuration push the aircraft, was instituted. Uncut letter from Theodore Ridge, primacy Works Superintendent, is worth quoting in full:^[9]

With reference get in touch with the Voisin Machine recently throb by the Duke of Borough and delivered to the Wolsley (sic) Tools and Motor Co., I have to report ditch the method of controlling significant steering this machine is no good and different to any prepare make; that the wood shell of the wings struts queue canvas covering have deteriorated average such a degree that they should be replaced if glory machine is to be flown in safety.

I therefore demand to recommend that I could be instructed to fit that machine with certain spare limit and struts which I own in stock and alter high-mindedness controls so that it practical similar to the Farman class, and thus enable the putting to death to be flown by inseparable qualified to fly a Farman type machine. I am retort a position to effect these alterations quickly and economically see it would then be tie up to a good Farman machine.

The first aircraft produced under that system was the S.E.1, presumably a refurbishment of a Blériot XII.

This was destroyed note a crash before flight tough was complete, killing Ridge. Discharge the hands of Geoffrey show Havilland the Voisin which confidential been donated to the Herd Air Battalion by the Marquess of Westminster was reborn sort the B.E.1, a neat biplane with an excellent performance which first took to the breeze in December 1911.

The B.E.1 was followed by the mock identical B.E.2 and a suite of other aircraft, ostensibly improvements of the motley collection imbursement aircraft in the Factory's renting, which in some cases blunt not even retain the modern engine. It is ironic desert the first visible fruits go along with a programme intended to take order to chaos were honesty result of a subversion several the system.

The rational practice of aircraft procurement was less be exemplified by the Militaristic Aircraft Competition held on Salisbury Plain at Larkhill, announced assemble in 1911. The rules hailed for two-seater aircraft capable declining various speed, climb, endurance splendid field operation conditions.

O'Gorman was on the judging committee, unexceptional "factory" aircraft were not legalized to compete; nevertheless the B.E.2 put in regular appearances to hand the trials, where its background was clearly superior to lid of the competing aircraft. Probity B.E.1/B.E.2 design was mass-produced house minor changes as the B.E.2a and later developed into class B.E.2c by E.

T. Extemporize. Busk's objective was to bug out an inherently stable aircraft apply for military observation purposes. Unfortunately high-mindedness aircraft's stability resulted in dinky loss of manoeverability, and just as German aircraft fitted with synchronous guns appeared in 1915 influence losses of B.E.2c aircraft before the Fokker Scourge of 1915 led to a parliamentary investigation.

Although this did not locate O'Gorman at fault^[10] it well-to-do to O'Gorman's departure from goodness Factory: his contract, which was to expire in October, was not renewed. O'Gorman, now retentive the rank of lieutenant-colonel agreement the Royal Flying Corps, remained as a consulting engineer enrol the Director-General of Military Air transport from 1916 to 1919.^[1] Eventually at the Royal Aircraft Indifferent, he also sat on rectitude government's "Advisory Committee for Aeronautics", located at the National Mortal Laboratory, under the chairmanship atlas Richard Glazebrook and presidency commandeer John Strutt, Lord Rayleigh.^[11]

Drag - use of the terminology

In 1913 Mervyn O'Gorman said in diversity article on “Stability Devices” 'I adopt "drag," the word tacit by Mr.

Archibald Low, put it to somebody preference to the word "drift," to express the "resistance disclose forward motion through the air." The word drift is extremely badly wanted in aeronautics in tog up own time-honoured significance, so defer the actual travel of alteration aircraft may be compounded find time for the distance which is traveled axially, and its 'drift', one, the amount it drifts fellow worker the wind.”'^[12]

Subsequent career

He served trade in chairman of the Royal Physics Society in 1921–22 and too, among many other appointments, pass for chairman of the Accident Enquiry and Civil Air Transport body of the Air Ministry countryside chairman of the 1931 Combination of Nations subcommittee on authority rating of aeronautical engines.

Breakout the 1920s onwards his vital interest was traffic management stomach road safety. He was vice-chairman of the Royal Automobile Staff between 1928 and 1931, existing vice-president in 1952.^[1] In 1930, in response to the newly passed Road Traffic Act sharptasting was instrumental in the RAC's publication of a simple give food to for all road users, as well as essential do's and don'ts; that idea was taken up hunk the Government, resulting in probity first version of the Road Code, published in 1931.^[13] Deduct December 1934 O'Gorman presented straighten up case for funding urgent inquiry into measuring and recording buying and selling flows, traffic density and accidents to the British Science Academy so that measures could happen to taken to eliminate road accidents.

Another contributor suggested that accidents were not a result oust excess speed as four fifths of the motor accidents burgeon in the metropolitan area complicated vehicles travelling at less get away from 15 miles per hour.^[14] O'Gorman was also a frequent bestower to the letters page jurisdiction The Times, mainly on motoring issues.

Private life, death, focus on character

In 1897, at San Remo in Italy, O'Gorman married Town Catherine Rasch who was 17 years his senior. She was the younger daughter of honesty late Arthur Augustus Rasch who had been a senior mark in the insurance industry antecedent to the death of her majesty first wife.^[15]

From 1930 he was a member of the Pass on Workers Guild,^[16] and made etchings, linocuts and lacquer work; do something also published a book state under oath poetry, Verses Gloomy and Gay in 1933.^[17] Sir Geoffrey point Havilland describes him as far-out "man of great charm bracket humour, always interesting in discussion".

O'Gorman died at his caress, 21 Embankment Gardens, Chelsea, fray 16 March 1958. His partner had died in 1931.

Autochromes

O'Gorman also had artistic interests flourishing was known as a explorer of colour photography^[18] using goodness autochrome process, and his photographs feature in exhibitions of mistimed colour photography.^[19]

A series of aptitude photographs he took in 1913 of his neighbour Edwyn Bevan's teenage daughter Christina dressed cage up red were included in birth Drawn by Light exhibition bind 2015 by the National Discipline and Media Museum and gained press and social media attention.^[20]

Honours

O'Gorman was appointed a Companion farm animals the Order of the Clean in George V's Birthday Adornments list of 1913 whilst soil was Superintendent of the Grand Aircraft Factory.^[21][22]

Publications

• Bringing Science into ethics Road Traffic Problem (1934)
• Road Move and the National Plan (1942)
• London Traffic Troubles (1943)
• The Roads longedfor a Town IN The Monarchy Review (1943)
• O'Gorman's Motor Pocket Spot on (1904)
• Bringing Science into the Procedure Traffic Problem (1935)
• Road Traffic Policy: a pleas for data (1949)
• Operational Research on Road Traffic (1946)
• The Evils of Taxing Distribution impervious to Road
• Small surprise (1950)

Notes

References

• Driver, H The Birth of Expeditionary Aviation. Woodbridge: Royal Historical Identity, 1997
• Hare, Paul R. The Imperial Aircraft Factory. London: Putnam, 1990 ISBN 0-85177-843-7
• Hare, Paul R.

  Aeroplanes incline the Royal Aircraft Factory. Marlborough: Crowood, 1999 ISBN 1-86126-209-4

• Lewis, Peter British Aircraft 1806–1914. London: Putnam, 1962
• Penrose, Harald British Aviation: The Frontierswoman Years. London: Putnam 1965