Bedford was born on 18 November 1920 at Loughborough and was educated at Loughborough College. He was serving an electrical and mechanical apprenticeship and training to be a steeplejack when the war started.
On 24 August 1950, an Eon Olympiaglider flown by Bill Bedford broke the British distance record by flying 310 km in 3:50 hr. On 2 May 1951 Bedford broke this record with a flight of 413 km from Farnborough to Newcastle.
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 20 October 1996 in West End Esher, Surrey.
^Gathering of Eagles 1995 Biography 15 June 2014 at the Wayback Machine retrieved 8 June 2014.
^. Archived from the original on 13 February 2012. Retrieved 15 June 2008.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) retrieved 8 June 2014.
Referencesedit
- Aviation History magazine
Obituary
Test & Research Pilots retrieved 14 June 2008.
January 01, 1970
bill, bedford, australian, footballer, footballer, alfred, william, bedford, fraes, november, 1920, october, 1996, british, test, pilot, pioneered, development, stol, aircraft, alfred, william, bedford, gathering, eagles, 1995, lithographnickname, billborn, 19. For the Australian footballer see Bill Bedford footballer Alfred William Bedford OBE AFC FRAeS 18 November 1920 20 October 1996 was a British test pilot and pioneered the development of V STOL aircraft Alfred William BedfordBill Bedford Gathering of Eagles 1995 LithographNickname s BillBorn 1920 11 18 18 November 1920Loughborough EnglandDied20 October 1996 1996 10 20 aged 75 Surrey EnglandAllegianceUnited KingdomService wbr branch Royal Air ForceYears of service1940 1951UnitNo 605 Squadron RAF No 135 Squadron RAF No 65 Squadron RAF Empire Test Pilots SchoolBattles warsSecond World WarAwardsKing s Commendation Order of the British Empire Air Force Cross Britannia Trophy Segrave Trophy de Havilland TrophyOther workChief Test Pilot Hawker Aircraft Bedford was born on 18 November 1920 at Loughborough and was educated at Loughborough College He was serving an electrical and 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 24 August 1950 an Eon Olympia glider flown by Bill Bedford broke the British distance record by flying 310 km in 3 50 hr On 2 May 1951 Bedford broke this record with a flight of 413 km from Farnborough to Newcastle 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 20 October 1996 in West End Esher Surrey Bedford s awards include the King s Commendation the Order of the British Empire and the Air Force Cross In addition he was awarded the Britannia Segrave and de Havilland trophies 1 In 1994 he was awarded the Sir Peter Masefield Gold Medal 2 Notes edit Gathering of Eagles 1995 Biography Archived 15 June 2014 at the Wayback Machine retrieved 8 June 2014 Sir Peter Masefield Gold Medal recipients Archived from the original on 13 February 2012 Retrieved 15 June 2008 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint bot original URL status unknown link retrieved 8 June 2014 References editBritish Aerospace Harrier Aviation History magazine Obituary Test amp Research Pilots retrieved 14 June 2008 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Bill Bedford amp oldid 1204452054, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
