Born Windsor, England, August 5, 1893, Camm started
with the Martinsyde aeroplane company in 1914. He
joined T.O.M. Sopwith at the H.G. Hawker Engineering
Company at Kingston in 1923.
As Chief Designer from 1925, his prolific genius led
to a 60-year series of outstanding military aircraft
starting with the Hart biplane day bomber in 1928 and
its single-seat fighter derivative, the Fury, from 1930.
In 1935 Camm produced the Hurricane, his first monoplane
fighter, armed with 8 machine guns and using the new
Merlin engine. It played a dominant role in the RAF's
victory in the Battle of Britain in 1940. There followed
the Typhoon, the Tempest and the post-war Sea Fury
propeller-driven fighters.
The Sea Hawk and Hunter jets were followed in the 1970s by
the V/STOL Harrier fighter, combat-proven in the battles
over the Falkland Islands in 1982. Sir Sydney Camm died
March 12, 1966.
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