Nationality United Kingdom Name Roland Falk | Other names Roland John Falk Died 1985 | |
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Born 1915 London, England | ||
Wing Commander Roland 'Roly' John Falk OBE AFC* (1915 - 1985) was a British test pilot noted for being at the controls on the maiden flight of the British V bomber, the Avro Vulcan. Falk typically flew dressed in pin-stripe suit and tie.
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Early life
Falk was born in London in 1915, the second son of Diana Gwendoline Edith Cecil (née Stracey) and Oswald Toynbee Falk, and he was educated at Stowe School and the de Havilland Technical School. After gaining his pilot's licence he flew in both the Abyssinian War and the Spanish Civil War for the press. In 1937 he flew a newspaper service from London to Paris and then joined the Air Registration Board as a test pilot.
Wartime service
Falk had been a member of the Reserve of Air Force Officers since 1935 and at the start of the Second World War in 1939 he joined the Royal Air Force, by 1943 he was chief test pilot at the Royal Aircraft Establishment Farnborough. At Farnborough he flew and tested captured German aircraft as well as carrying out operational flights with night fighter squadrons. For his service he was awarded the Air Force Cross twice, described as the Air Force Cross and bar.
Delta-wing testing
At the end of the war in 1946 he joined Vickers Armstrong but was injured in an accident in a Vickers Wellington. Falk recovered and went to Avro to test fly the Avro Athena, he soon embarked on one of the most important jobs of his career, test pilot of the Avro 707. The Avro 707 was an experimental delta-winged aircraft to gain experience for the design of the Avro Vulcan bomber, Falks experience flying the German Messerschmitt Me 163 came in handy in what was seen as advanced and dangerous test flying. After testing the Avro 707 Falk piloted the Vulcan on the first flight on 30 August 1952.
Falk demonstrated the Vulcan on several occasions and designed much of the cockpit layout. During the 1955 Farnborough Airshow he barrel-rolled a Vulcan at the top of the post-take-off climb; although safe, it was a spectacular manoeuvre in an aircraft weighing 69 tons and with a 99-foot wingspan.
He was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 1952.
Later life
Falk retired from Avro in 1958 and became a sales representative for Hawker Siddeley until he set up his own aircraft business in Jersey.
He had married the daughter of former Avro test pilot Sydney Thorn with whom he had two children.
Roly Falk died in Jersey on 23 February 1985, aged 69.