Sydney Vincent Sippe
| Sydney Sippe | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Full name | Sydney Vincent Sippe |
| Born |
24 April 1889 London |
| Died | 17 November 1968 (aged 79) Leatherhead |
| Nationality | British |
| Spouse | Mabel D'Arcy |
| Aviation career | |
| Famous flights | First flight from sea in Britain; 1914 raid on Zeppelin sheds at Friedrichshaven |
| Air force | Royal Naval Air Service |
| Rank | Squadron Commander |
| Awards |
Legion of Honour, Distinguished Service Order, Croix de Guerre, Officer of the Order of the British Empire, Chevalier of the Order of Leopold (Belgium) |
Major Sydney Vincent Sippe DSO OBE FRAeS (pronounced SIP-ee) (24 April 1889 – 17 November 1968) was a British pioneer aviator. He designed, built and tested early aeroplanes, being the first pilot to take off from the sea in Britain. In World War I he flew many missions including some of the first ever bombing raids. He won honours from several countries, particularly for his part in the 1914 bombing of a German Zeppelin factory.
Sippe's parents were Charles Henry Sippe (1842–1924), a shipping export agent (whose firm C H Sippe & Sons Ltd still existed until c.2013), and Elizabeth Jane Thornton (born 1846). They had moved to Britain from Australia, both families having originally emigrated from Liverpool.
The youngest of nine children, Sydney Sippe was born in 1889 in Brixton, London, where his parents lived at 17 Lambert Road. He was educated at Dulwich College from May 1903 to December 1905.
Sippe was named after Sydney, Australia, where both his parents had lived. His first name is often misspelled 'Sidney', even on official documents, and his surname sometimes written with an accent, 'Sippé', as if of French origin. However the form Sydney Vincent Sippe is used both on his birth and death certificates.
After World War I Sippe continued to use the title Major – and was known as 'the Major' – even though the RAF rank was renamed Squadron Leader in 1919. He also went by the nickname Pi (pronounced like 'pie'), and, to his family, Pipi.
After leaving school, in February 1906 Sippe became an engineering apprentice with British Westinghouse in Manchester.
Between late 1909 and early 1910, just a year after Wilbur Wright first demonstrated powered flight in Europe, Sippe (aged 20), his brother Arthur and their friend James Jensen (or Jenson) designed and built a monoplane from steel tubing. However its attempted maiden flight on 24 April 1910 at Addington, Croydon, failed due to insufficient power:
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