Sopwith, Sir Thomas

Sopwith, Sir Thomas (Octave Murdoch)

(born Jan. 18, 1888, London, Eng.—died Jan. 27, 1989, Compton Manor, near Winchester, Hampshire) British aircraft designer. He taught himself to fly in 1910 and won a prize for the longest flight to the European continent. In 1912 he founded Sopwith Aviation Company, Ltd., which in World War I built such planes as the Camel, the Pup, and the Triplane. His Hawker Aircraft Company produced the Hurricane fighter of World War II and later the Harrier, a vertical-takeoff jet fighter. He was chairman of the Hawker Siddeley Group, successor to his earlier company, until 1963.