Oswald Short
| Hugh Oswald Short | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
16 January 1883 Stanton by Dale, England |
| Died | 4 December 1969 (aged 86) Linchmere, Sussex, England |
| Nationality | United Kingdom |
| Occupation | aeronautical engineer |
Hugh Oswald Short, AFRAeS (16 January 1883 – 4 December 1969) was an English aeronautical engineer.
Oswald Short was born at Stanton by Dale, Derbyshire, the son of mining engineer Samuel Short and his second wife Emma Robinson. In 1897, he took an intense interest in ballooning, after his brother Eustace Short had purchased, repaired and flown a second-hand gas balloon. The two brothers formed a partnership to design and manufacture balloons for fairground businesses, and made a joint visit to the 1900 Paris Exposition ('World's Fair'). There, they were inspired by the perfectly spherical balloons made by Édouard Surcouf of Société Astra, and they then modified their own design accordingly. In 1901, the two brothers constructed their first balloon, capacity 33,000 cu.ft, in premises above the laboratory of their brother Horace Short, in Hove, Sussex. In 1902, the balloon made successful flights, and in the same year Oswald and Eustace moved their enterprise to London. The pair made and sold gas-filled observation balloons, for customers including the government of India. In 1906, they moved their business again, to railway arches at Battersea, and flew balloons from Battersea gas works, including some passenger-carrying flights over London. Via contacts in the War Office and in the Aero Club of Great Britain (later Royal Aero Club), they went on to produce balloons of various designs for many notable people and events, up to and including the First World War.
In 1908, Aero Club members including Charles Rolls, described accounts of the Wright Brothers' demonstrations of their aircraft at Le Mans in France. Oswald Short reportedly said to Eustace "This is the finish of ballooning: we must begin building aeroplanes at once, and we can't do that without Horace!" Oswald succeeded in persuading Horace to join them, and in November 1908 they registered their partnership under the name Short Brothers. They soon started building two aeroplanes, for Charles Rolls and for Francis McClean, then they established an additional factory at Leysdown, Isle of Sheppey, later relocated to Eastchurch. In early 1909, Short Brothers signed an agreement with the Wright brothers to manufacture copies of Wright Flyers for sale under licence, and thus became the World's first aircraft manufacturer.
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