Henry Phillip Folland

Henry Phillip Folland OBE , FRSA (born January 22, 1889 in Cambridge , † September 4, 1954 ) was an English aeronautical engineer and industrialist.

Henry Phillip Folland was born to the stonemason Frederick Folland and his wife Mary. In 1905 Folland began an apprenticeship with the Lanchester Motor Company in Birmingham, after which he became an employee in the development office of the Swift Motor Company, and in 1908 he became a draftsman at Daimler. It was there that Folland discovered his interest in motorized flying machines.

He worked at the Royal Aircraft Factory from 1912 until well into World War I and was responsible for the development of the Royal Aircraft Factory SE5 .

Folland left the Royal Aircraft Factory in 1917, then became chief designer at Nieuport & General Aircraft , where he developed the Nieuport Nighthawk , an aircraft that was intended as a standard fighter aircraft for the RAF , but was not in service due to problems with the engine could be asked. In 1920 Nieuport & General Aircraft became part of the Gloster Aircraft Company . Folland became chief designer in this company from 1921 and is known for a number of successful aircraft, such as the Grebe , the Gamecock , the Gauntlet or the Gladiator .

In 1937, Folland left Gloster and started his own business by running British Marine Aircraft Ltd. and changed the name to Folland Aircraft Limited . This company was mainly active as a subcontractor for various other aircraft manufacturers, mainly during the Second World War. In addition, during Henry Folland's active time, the company submitted about 45 civil and military aircraft projects to the UK Department of Aviation, but only one of these, the Fo.108 , a three-seat, single-engine test engine for engine testing, was accepted and 12 were built.

In 1951 Henry Folland resigned from his position as managing director of Folland Aircraft Limited for health reasons, but was a member of the company's board of directors until his death in 1954. Sir Geoffrey de Havilland wrote in his 1961 autobiography "Sky Fever" that Folland would have become a recluse after he retired from management .