John Moore-Brabazon, 1st Baron Brabazon of Tara
| The Lord Brabazon of Tara | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
8 February 1884 London, England |
| Died | 17 May 1964 (aged 80) Longcross, Surrey, England |
| Allegiance |
 United Kingdom
|
| Service/branch |
 British Army Royal Air Force
|
| Years of service | 1914–1919 |
| Rank | Lieutenant-Colonel |
| Battles/wars | First World War |
| Awards |
Military Cross Mentioned in dispatches (2) Knight of the Legion of Honour |
John Theodore Cuthbert Moore-Brabazon, 1st Baron Brabazon of Tara, GBE MC PC (8 February 1884 – 17 May 1964) was an English aviation pioneer and Conservative politician. He was the first Englishman to pilot a heavier-than-air machine under power in England, and he served as Minister of Transport and Minister of Aircraft Production during World War II.
Moore-Brabazon was born in London to Lieutenant-Colonel John Arthur Henry Moore-Brabazon (1828–1908) and his wife, Emma Sophia (d. 1937). He was educated at Harrow School before reading engineering at Trinity College, Cambridge, but did not graduate. He spent university holidays working for Charles Rolls as an unpaid mechanic, and became an apprentice at Darracq in Paris after leaving Cambridge. In 1907 he won the Circuit des Ardennes in a Minerva.
Moore-Brabazon learned to fly in 1908 in France in a Voisin biplane. He became the first resident Englishman to make an officially recognized aeroplane flight in England on 2 May 1909, at Shellbeach on the Isle of Sheppey with flights of 450 ft, 600 ft, and 1500 ft. On 4 May 1909, Moore-Brabazon was photographed outside the Royal Aero Club clubhouse Mussel Manor (now Muswell Manor Holiday Park) alongside the Wright Brothers, the Short Brothers, Charles Rolls, and many other early aviation pioneers. In 1909 he sold the Bird of Passage to Arthur Edward George, who learned to fly in it at the Royal Aero Club's flying-ground at Shellbeach and bought a Short Brothers-built Wright biplane. A documentary, A Dream of Flight, was made in 2009 to celebrate the centenary of his achievement on the Isle of Sheppey.
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