Sir Geoffrey De Havilland

	SIR GEOFFREY De HAVILLAND British Aircraft Designer Founder of the De Havilland Company
	Born Buckingham, England, 27 July 1882. In 1909, never having seen an airplane in flight, constructed his first machine and taught himself to fly. The De Havilland name has been carried aloft by more than fifty aircraft. The classic DH-4 of WW I saw service throughout the globe. His triumph of WW II was the Mosquito bomber, fastest propeller aircraft of its time. In 1943 he entered the jet age with the Vampire fighters and led the world into jet passenger flight with its first turbine powered aircraft, the Comet. Died May, 1965.
	Elected to the International Aerospace Hall of Fame 1972