After a starred First at Cambridge and an apprenticeship at the Hawker Aircraft Co during the Second World War, Freddie Page joined the aircraft division of English Electric at Preston in 1945 as "chief stressman". There, under the chief engineer WEW Petter, he was a member of the team which created the first British jet bomber, the Canberra. Though the overall concept was Petter's, much of the radical thinking underlying it was Page's, driven by painstaking scientific analysis.
The prototype flew in May 1949; Page became assistant chief designer in that year and succeeded Petter as chief engineer in 1950. The Canberra - of which 1,352 were eventually built - saw service with 15 air forces around the world over the next 50 years.
Page's next project was the P1 prototype, the first British aircraft to achieve supersonic speeds in level flight. This led to the development of the Lightning fighter, which went into service with the RAF in 1960. In its advanced form, to the envy of American engineers of the era, the Lightning achieved supersonic climbing speeds and exceeded Mach 2 in level flight. It was another export success - notably to Saudi Arabia, where Page forged relationships which were the foundation of a substantial flow of contracts for BAC and British Aerospace in later years.
Page had been appointed chief executive of the aircraft division of English Electric Aviation in 1959. In 1960, at the instigation of the air minister, Duncan Sandys, the company became part of a tripartite merger with Vickers-Armstrong and Bristol Aeroplane to form the British Aircraft Corporation, which had the contract to build a new supersonic strike-reconnaissance aircraft, the ill-fated TSR2.
It was Page's old mentor at Hawker, Sir Sidney Camm, who said: "All modern aircraft have four dimensions: span, length, height and politics. TSR2 simply got the first three right." Despite Page's best efforts as the project's chief engineer, and his willingness when necessary to face down ministers and officials with irrefutable logic, the TSR2 was mired in problems. By 1965 its estimated cost had tripled to £750 million, and its first delivery date had slipped by at least two years; under pressure to find budget cuts, the Labour defence minister, Denis Healey, announced TSR2's cancellation.
At the same time, however, an agreement was signed with the French government to produce an advanced naval attack aircraft, the Jaguar, in a joint venture between BAC and Breguet Aviation. Page was co-chairman of the Jaguar joint venture company, Sepecat, and was also later chairman of Panavia, a company formed with Fiat and Messerschmitt to develop the Tornado fighter.
From 1967 he was chairman of the military aircraft division of BAC, and from 1972 he was also chairman of the commercial aircraft side - in which capacity he performed the official handover of the last Concorde built for British Airways. When BAC became part of the nationalised British Aerospace in 1977, Page joined the board and was chairman of the aircraft group until 1982.
A recipient of both the British Gold Medal for Aeronautics (1962) and the Gold Medal of the Royal Aeronautical Society (1974), he commanded universal respect in his industry and was particularly revered by the younger engineers whose careers he encouraged. His final involvement in the military field was to oversee early project studies for what emerged as the Eurofighter joint venture.
Frederick William Page was born at Wimbledon on February 20 1917, the son of a chauffeur who was killed while serving in the First World War. Freddie was brought up by his mother in very modest circumstances but won scholarships first to Rutlish School, Merton, and then to St Catherine's College, Cambridge, where he achieved the rare distinction of a double starred First in the Mechanical Science tripos.
Having known since his teens that he wanted to design aircraft, he began his career in 1938 in the Hawker works at Kingston-upon-Thames, where he trained under Sidney Camm, the designer of the Hurricane fighter bomber. Page worked on the Hurricane Mk II and the Typhoon and Tempest before moving to English Electric at the end of the war.
He was appointed CBE in 1961 and knighted in 1979. He was a Fellow of the Royal Society and of the Royal Aeronautical Society.
After retiring from the board of British Aeropsace in 1983, Page devoted himself to gardening, latterly at Christchurch in Dorset, where he also enjoyed listening to classical music and taking long walks on the seafront.
The prototype flew in May 1949; Page became assistant chief designer in that year and succeeded Petter as chief engineer in 1950. The Canberra - of which 1,352 were eventually built - saw service with 15 air forces around the world over the next 50 years.
Page's next project was the P1 prototype, the first British aircraft to achieve supersonic speeds in level flight. This led to the development of the Lightning fighter, which went into service with the RAF in 1960. In its advanced form, to the envy of American engineers of the era, the Lightning achieved supersonic climbing speeds and exceeded Mach 2 in level flight. It was another export success - notably to Saudi Arabia, where Page forged relationships which were the foundation of a substantial flow of contracts for BAC and British Aerospace in later years.
Page had been appointed chief executive of the aircraft division of English Electric Aviation in 1959. In 1960, at the instigation of the air minister, Duncan Sandys, the company became part of a tripartite merger with Vickers-Armstrong and Bristol Aeroplane to form the British Aircraft Corporation, which had the contract to build a new supersonic strike-reconnaissance aircraft, the ill-fated TSR2.
It was Page's old mentor at Hawker, Sir Sidney Camm, who said: "All modern aircraft have four dimensions: span, length, height and politics. TSR2 simply got the first three right." Despite Page's best efforts as the project's chief engineer, and his willingness when necessary to face down ministers and officials with irrefutable logic, the TSR2 was mired in problems. By 1965 its estimated cost had tripled to £750 million, and its first delivery date had slipped by at least two years; under pressure to find budget cuts, the Labour defence minister, Denis Healey, announced TSR2's cancellation.
At the same time, however, an agreement was signed with the French government to produce an advanced naval attack aircraft, the Jaguar, in a joint venture between BAC and Breguet Aviation. Page was co-chairman of the Jaguar joint venture company, Sepecat, and was also later chairman of Panavia, a company formed with Fiat and Messerschmitt to develop the Tornado fighter.
From 1967 he was chairman of the military aircraft division of BAC, and from 1972 he was also chairman of the commercial aircraft side - in which capacity he performed the official handover of the last Concorde built for British Airways. When BAC became part of the nationalised British Aerospace in 1977, Page joined the board and was chairman of the aircraft group until 1982.
A recipient of both the British Gold Medal for Aeronautics (1962) and the Gold Medal of the Royal Aeronautical Society (1974), he commanded universal respect in his industry and was particularly revered by the younger engineers whose careers he encouraged. His final involvement in the military field was to oversee early project studies for what emerged as the Eurofighter joint venture.
Frederick William Page was born at Wimbledon on February 20 1917, the son of a chauffeur who was killed while serving in the First World War. Freddie was brought up by his mother in very modest circumstances but won scholarships first to Rutlish School, Merton, and then to St Catherine's College, Cambridge, where he achieved the rare distinction of a double starred First in the Mechanical Science tripos.
Having known since his teens that he wanted to design aircraft, he began his career in 1938 in the Hawker works at Kingston-upon-Thames, where he trained under Sidney Camm, the designer of the Hurricane fighter bomber. Page worked on the Hurricane Mk II and the Typhoon and Tempest before moving to English Electric at the end of the war.
He was appointed CBE in 1961 and knighted in 1979. He was a Fellow of the Royal Society and of the Royal Aeronautical Society.
After retiring from the board of British Aeropsace in 1983, Page devoted himself to gardening, latterly at Christchurch in Dorset, where he also enjoyed listening to classical music and taking long walks on the seafront.
