Bill Bedford
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Alfred William "Bill" Bedford OBE AFC FRAeS (November 18, 1920 — October 20, 1996), was a British test pilot and pioneered the development of V/STOL aircraft.
Bedford was born on the 18 November 1920 at Loughborough and was educated at Loughborough College. He was serving an electrical a mechanical apprenticeship and training to be a steeplejack when the war started.
Bedford joined the Royal Air Force as a fighter pilot in 1940. He flew the Hawker Hurricane and the Republic Thunderbolt with No. 605 Squadron RAF and No. 135 Squadron RAF, and the North American Mustang with No. 65 Squadron RAF. Bedford was awarded the Air Force Cross in 1945. After the war, he took a permanent commission with the RAF and became an all-weather flying instructor and tutor at the Empire Test Pilots' School.
On his retirement in 1951 he joined Hawker Siddeley and was chief test pilot from 1956 till 1967. Together with his colleague Hugh Merewether he pioneered Hawker's development of V/STOL aircraft. Bedford was the first pilot to fly the Hawker P.1127, Kestrel, and Harrier. In addition to his land-based test pilot duties, he also pioneered the operation of V/STOL aircraft from a ship - the P.1127 on HMS Ark Royal in 1963.
From 1968 he became the Sales Manager for Hawker Siddeley Aviation and later marketing manager when it became British Aerospace. Bedford retired in 1986 and died on the 20 October 1996 in Surrey.
[edit] External links
- Biography - USAF Air University
- British Aerospace Harrier - Aviation History magazine
- Obituary
