Hubert Scott-Paine

Hubert Scott-Paine (11 March 1891 – 14 April 1954) was a British aircraft and boat designer, record-breaking power boat racer, entrepreneur, inventor, and sponsor of the winning entry in the 1922 Schneider Trophy.

Hubert Paine was born in Shoreham, England, on 11 March 1891, to Henry Paine and Rosannah (née Scott). He was educated at Shoreham Grammar School.

Scott-Paine worked for Noel Pemberton Billing dealing in yachts, eventually in 1913 forming Pemberton-Billing Ltd (with 'Supermarine' as the telegraphic address), with Hubert the factory manager at Woolston, Hampshire.

In 1916 Scott-Paine bought the company and renamed it the Supermarine Aviation Company Limited, building flying boats for the British Admiralty. Reginald Mitchell (of Spitfire fame) was employed at this time and the company greatly expanded.

Hubert married Alice Brenda Hockey in 1917, having four children. By this time he had changed his surname by hyphenating his parent's surnames to create Scott-Paine.

In February 1919 Scott-Paine started the first cross-channel flying boat service, between Woolston and the Channel Islands and Le Havre, using converted Supermarine AD Flying Boats. His company was named the British Marine Air Navigation Co Ltd.

After his failed 1919 attempt for the Jacques Schneider Trophy, Supermarine won the Trophy in 1922 with its Sea Lion II. This allowed Britain to win it outright years later.

In 1923 Scott-Paine sold Supermarine (for £192,000). In 1924 Imperial Airways was formed by the merger of Scott-Paine's British Marine Air Navigation Co Ltd and three other airlines. He was a director of Imperial Airways until 1939.

...
Wikipedia