# Robert Lickley

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Scottish aeronautical engineer

Sir Robert Lickley Bob Lickley Born (1912-01-19)19 January 1912 Dundee, Scotland Died 7 July 1998(1998-07-07) (aged 86) Surrey Citizenship British Education University of Edinburgh, Imperial College London Spouse Doris May Children 1 son, 1 daughter Engineering career Discipline Aeronautics Institutions Institution of Engineering Designers, Royal Aeronautical Society, Institution of Mechanical Engineers Employer(s) Hawker, Fairey Significant design Hawker Hurricane Significant advance Fairey Delta 2 Awards Gold Medal, RAeS (1957), Taylor Gold Medal, RAeS (1958)

**Sir Robert Lang Lickley** [CBE](/source/Commander_of_the_Order_of_the_British_Empire) [FRSE](/source/Fellow_of_the_Royal_Society_of_Edinburgh) [FREng](/source/Fellow_of_the_Royal_Academy_of_Engineering) [FRAeS](/source/Fellow_of_the_Royal_Aeronautical_Society) [FIEE](/source/Fellow_of_the_Institution_of_Electrical_Engineers) (19 January 1912 – 7 July 1998) was a Scottish aeronautical engineer, and Chief Engineer at [Fairey Aviation](/source/Fairey_Aviation_Company) during whose tenure the [Fairey Delta 2](/source/Fairey_Delta_2) became the first aircraft to exceed 1,000 mph.[1]

## Early life

His father was Robert Lickley, and lived on King Street.[2] His father ran A. & R. Lickley estate agents, at 30 Reform Street then 2a King Street from 1911, which was founded by his grandfather Alexander T Lickley, born in Dundee in 1842. His grandfather started an apprenticeship at the age of nine. His father was chairman of the Dundee Auxiliary Section of the [London Missionary Society](/source/London_Missionary_Society),[3] and chairman of the Dundee Liberal Association,[4] and part of the Dundee and District Amateur Gymnastics Society.[5] His father died in early December 1925; he had been ill for years.[6][7]

His mother, Elizabeth L Lickley, moved to 53 Old Glamis Road. His mother Elizabeth died, aged 93, on February 18 1967. She died at her daughter's house, on Beverley Close in [Camberley](/source/Camberley), in north-east Surrey.[8]

Lickley was born in [Dundee](/source/Dundee) in Scotland and was educated at the [High School of Dundee](/source/High_School_of_Dundee). He studied [Civil Engineering](/source/Civil_Engineering) at the [University of Edinburgh](/source/University_of_Edinburgh) where he graduated BSc, and then went on to [Imperial College London](/source/Imperial_College_London) as a postgraduate, where he studied Aeronautics on a Caird Scholarship.[9]

His sister, Isobel, married Petty Officer L Benbow, from Leicester, at Panmure Street Congregational Church on Saturday August 14 1943.[10] His sister was a naval nurse, in the [Voluntary Aid Detachment](/source/Voluntary_Aid_Detachment).

## Career

### Hawker

Hawker Hurricane

Lickley joined the stress office of Hawker at [Kingston upon Thames](/source/Kingston_upon_Thames) in 1933. He worked on a new single-seat eight-gun monoplane for specification [F5/34](/source/Gloster_F.5%2F34). This became the [Hawker Hurricane](/source/Hawker_Hurricane), which first flew in 1935.

As a [Chief Project Engineer](/source/Chief_Project_Engineer) he worked on the [Typhoon](/source/Hawker_Typhoon), [Tempest](/source/Hawker_Tempest), and [Sea Fury](/source/Hawker_Sea_Fury). He worked on Hawker's entry into jet flight, the P.1040, which became the [Sea Hawk](/source/Hawker_Sea_Hawk).

### Cranfield

He became Professor of Aircraft Design in 1946 at the new College of Aeronautics at [Cranfield](/source/Cranfield), which became [Cranfield University](/source/Cranfield_University).

### Fairey

Fairey Delta 2

In November 1951 Lickley became Chief Engineer of [Fairey Aviation](/source/Fairey_Aviation_Company)[11] and became Technical Director in November 1956.[12]

He initially worked on the [Fairey Gannet](/source/Fairey_Gannet), including the [AEW](/source/Airborne_early_warning_and_control) version. He put together a team of aerodynamicists and mathematicians at their headquarters at [Hayes](/source/Hayes%2C_Hillingdon) in [Middlesex](/source/Middlesex). Fairey was also based in northern Cheshire.

At the same time the [Fairey Rotodyne](/source/Fairey_Rotodyne) [compound gyroplane](/source/Gyrodyne) was being developed, although ultimately cancelled in 1962. The military version would have cost too much and BEA considered the commercial prospects to be not sufficiently assured.[13] The 48-seat aircraft had been planned for the London-Paris route. Fairey also developed the [Fairey Ultra-light Helicopter](/source/Fairey_Ultra-light_Helicopter) for the Royal Navy, but it was not adopted. The company developed the [Fireflash](/source/Fireflash), the UK's first [air-to-air missile](/source/Air-to-air_missile), at its site at [Heston](/source/Heston_Aerodrome). The total engineering team and staff at Hayes was around 1,000. Lickley later became Managing Director. Part of the company also helped to build the [Trawsfynydd nuclear power station](/source/Trawsfynydd_nuclear_power_station).

The British Conservative government cancelled Fairey's new fighter, based on the FD2. A [Fairey Delta 3](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Fairey_Delta_3&action=edit&redlink=1) had also been planned. The French, however, saw the development potential for the FD2 concept, and their [Dassault Mirage](/source/Dassault_Mirage) aircraft would be produced in many variants and exported to many countries. The FD2 had a [drooped nose](/source/Droop_nose_(aeronautics)) (10 degrees) which included the cockpit. A simpler droop nose, in so far as it was only the unpressurized part in front of the cockpit, was later developed for [Concorde](/source/Concorde).

He left Fairey in March 1960, when Westland bought the company. The Lickley Centre, of [Fairey Hydraulics](/source/Fairey_Hydraulics), opened in June 1982.

### Hawker Siddeley

He became deputy managing director of Hawker Siddeley on May 16 1960, under managing director J T Lidbury.[14] He became the head of the Hawker Siddeley military aviation division in April 1965.[15]

He oversaw the introduction of the Harrier.[16]

### Institutions

In the 1950s Lickley was a member of the [Aeronautical Research Council](/source/Aeronautical_Research_Council) and [Society of British Aerospace Companies](/source/Society_of_British_Aerospace_Companies). He received an Honorary Doctorate of Science from the University of Edinburgh in 1973 and from the University of Strathclyde in January 1987. He worked with the [Science and Engineering Research Council](/source/Science_and_Engineering_Research_Council) (SERC).

He became a Fellow of the RAeS in 1943. In October 1982 became an honorary fellow of the IMechE.[17] He gave a talk to the local Derby RAeS section on November 12 1985. [18]

In 1977 he was elected a Fellow of the [Royal Society of Edinburgh](/source/Royal_Society_of_Edinburgh). His proposers were [Donald McCallum](/source/Donald_McCallum_(engineer)), Sir [John Atwell](/source/John_Atwell_(engineer)), [Francis Penny](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Francis_Penny&action=edit&redlink=1) and [Thomas Diery Patten](/source/Thomas_Diery_Patten).[19]

On 25 November 1981, speaking as President of the Institution of Production Engineers, he said *the Government appears to have developed a smooth transfer line which moves the oil revenues to the unemployed without any intervening checks or delays. Instead the checks and delays exist, it would seem, to restrain industry from becoming more efficient and to reduce the likelihood of more young people moving into engineering*. At the time his words were echoed by [Robert Inskip, 2nd Viscount Caldecote](/source/Robert_Inskip%2C_2nd_Viscount_Caldecote).

## Personal life

Lickley married Doris May Godby (d.1997) from south-west London, on June 28 1941 at [St Columba's Church, Pont Street](/source/St_Columba's_Church%2C_Pont_Street).[20][21] They had a son and a daughter, and lived in [Walton-on-Thames](/source/Walton-on-Thames) at 'Foxwood'.[22]

He was created a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the [1973 Birthday Honours](/source/1973_Birthday_Honours)[23] and was knighted in the [1984 Birthday Honours](/source/1984_Birthday_Honours).

He died at [St Peter's Hospital, Chertsey](/source/St_Peter's_Hospital%2C_Chertsey).[24][25]

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** ["Peter Twiss obituary"](https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2011/sep/02/peter-twiss-obituary). *[The Guardian](/source/The_Guardian)*. 2 September 2011. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20230310170704/https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2011/sep/02/peter-twiss-obituary) from the original on 10 March 2023.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** *Dundee Courier* Wednesday 22 June 1932

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** *Dundee Courier* Tuesday 12 October 1920, page 6

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** *Dundee Courier* Friday 26 November 1920

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** *Dundee Courier* Monday 15 September 1924

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** *Dundee Evening Telegraph* Wednesday 2 December 1925, page 7

1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** *Dundee Evening Telegraph* Wednesday 16 December 1925

1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** *Dundee Courier* Tuesday 21 February 1967, page 14

1. **[^](#cite_ref-9)** [*Biographical Index of Former Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 1783–2002*](https://web.archive.org/web/20160304074135/https://www.royalsoced.org.uk/cms/files/fellows/biographical_index/fells_indexp2.pdf) (PDF). The Royal Society of Edinburgh. July 2006. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-902-198-84-X](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-902-198-84-X). Archived from [the original](https://www.royalsoced.org.uk/cms/files/fellows/biographical_index/fells_indexp2.pdf) (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 19 April 2017.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-10)** *Dundee Courier* Monday 16 August 1943, page 2

1. **[^](#cite_ref-11)** *Times* Friday November 16 1951, page 10

1. **[^](#cite_ref-12)** *Times* Monday November 12 1956, page 5

1. **[^](#cite_ref-13)** Requiem For The Rotodyne An Account of Unusual Problems Met and Solved, Flight International, 9 August 1962, p.200

1. **[^](#cite_ref-14)** *Times* Thursday April 28 1960, page 5

1. **[^](#cite_ref-15)** *Times* Wednesday March 24 1965, page 18

1. **[^](#cite_ref-16)** *Western Daily Press* Wednesday 9 June 1982, page 2

1. **[^](#cite_ref-17)** *Dundee Courier* Tuesday 12 October 1982, page 7

1. **[^](#cite_ref-18)** *Derby Evening Telegraph* Friday 1 November 1985, page 19

1. **[^](#cite_ref-19)** [*Biographical Index of Former Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 1783–2002*](https://web.archive.org/web/20160304074135/https://www.royalsoced.org.uk/cms/files/fellows/biographical_index/fells_indexp2.pdf) (PDF). The Royal Society of Edinburgh. July 2006. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-902-198-84-X](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-902-198-84-X). Archived from [the original](https://www.royalsoced.org.uk/cms/files/fellows/biographical_index/fells_indexp2.pdf) (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 19 April 2017.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-20)** *Dundee Evening Telegraph* Tuesday 1 July 1941, page 5

1. **[^](#cite_ref-21)** *Dundee Courier* Wednesday 2 July 1941, page 4

1. **[^](#cite_ref-22)** *Dundee Courier* Monday 27 November 1972, page 5

1. **[^](#cite_ref-23)** *Times* Thursday December 15 1977, page 19

1. **[^](#cite_ref-24)** *Surrey Herald* Thursday 23 July 1998, page 18

1. **[^](#cite_ref-25)** *The Scotsman* Thursday 6 August 1998, page 18

## External links

- [Obituary](http://www.royalsoced.org.uk/cms/files/fellows/obits_alpha/Lickley_r.pdf) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20120414231922/http://www.royalsoced.org.uk/cms/files/fellows/obits_alpha/Lickley_r.pdf) 14 April 2012 at the [Wayback Machine](/source/Wayback_Machine) from the [Royal Society of Edinburgh](/source/Royal_Society_of_Edinburgh)

- [IMechE Heritage](http://heritage.imeche.org/Biographies/RLLickley)

- [Fairey Delta 2](http://www.corbisimages.com/stock-photo/rights-managed/U1101821/peter-twiss-shaking-hands-with-robert-lickley)

### Video clips

- [Fairey Delta 2 footage](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NcjgvaqD-ec) on [YouTube](/source/YouTube_video_(identifier))

- [Air speed record](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q03og4OU6G8) on [YouTube](/source/YouTube_video_(identifier))

Preceded by President of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers 1971–72 Succeeded by Preceded by President of the Institution of Production Engineers 1981–82 Succeeded by

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Robert Lickley](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Lickley) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Lickley?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.