Aviation Rn’D, it’s in the DNA
Pioneering aviation runs in Richard Chandler’s blood.
While the billionaire’s Eviation aerospace company with its electrically driven propeller planes is focused on cutting emissions and costs, back in the
1940s his uncle, George Watt, was integral in the development of the jet engine. Back then, it was about all-out speed.
Watt was a pioneer flyer in New Zealand, a Rhodes Scholar and a member of New Zealand’s Territorial Air Force in 1927. He went on to serve in the war as a squadron leader, involved in the top-secret development of aircraft technology at the Royal Aircraft Establishment, at Farnborough in England.
Between
1942 and 1944 he held the position of deputy director of special projects.
Chandler writes that his uncle was part of a team at Farnborough focused on acceleration — both how the planes could produce it, and how the pilots could handle the resulting gravitational (G) forces.
Watt flew a specially modified aircraft and inside the cockpit was a camera that recorded a G-meter as well as his reaction to the pressure.
In 1942 he was awarded the Air Force Cross. His citation read: “He did over 100 ‘blacking-outs’ in the air over the period of a year to assess the value of positioning and various appliances. It was due to his courage and determination, often at great personal risk, that these tests were concluded satisfactorily.”
Watt worked with Frank Whittle, who developed the jet engine for the Allies.
Amid great secrecy, a Whittle engine was flown to the United States, enabling General Electric to build America’s first jet-engine fighter and launch the country’s own jet aviation industry. For his contribution to the development of jet aircraft in America, the US awarded Watt the Legion of Merit.
In 1949 the Gisborne Herald quoted Watt as accurately predicting than with jet engines, a flight from London to Sydney would take 23 hours flying time — close to the time it takes today.
Chandler, who got his private pilot’s licence in his 20s, said his uncle became a Rolls-Royce director but returned to New Zealand often and retired here.