James C. Floyd
Floyd at the Canadian Air and Space Museum in 2006
Born	James Charles Floyd (1914-10-20) 20 October 1914 (age 109) Manchester, Lancashire, England, UK
Other names	Jim Floyd
Citizenship	England Canada
Education	UMIST
Occupation	Aeronautical engineer
Years active	1930–1979
Employer	Avro
Notable work	Avro Canada C102 Jetliner Avro Canada CF-100 Canuck Avro Canada CF-105 Arrow
Spouse	Irene Floyd ​ ​ ( m. 1940; died 2014)​
Awards	Wright Brothers Medal

James Charles Floyd (born 20 October 1914) is a British-Canadian retired aeronautical engineer. ^[1] He became the Avro Aircraft Ltd. (Canada) chief design engineer and his involvement, ultimately as vice-president (engineering), in the design and development of the Avro Canada C-102 Jetliner, Avro Canada CF-100 Canuck and Avro Canada CF-105 Arrow aircraft, occurred during a period which is viewed by many as the "Golden Age" of the Canadian aviation industry.

Early career

James Charles "Jim" Floyd was born in Manchester, Lancashire, England, on 20 October 1914. Jim began his career in the aviation industry in January 1930, at the age of 15, as an apprentice with A.V. Roe Company in the United Kingdom. Growing up next to the A.V. Roe manufacturing plant, it seemed like a logical career path when he was chosen by Sir Roy Dobson, to take part in a scheme to train young boys in the aviation field. Great things were happening in aviation at the time, and Floyd wanted to be part of it. Floyd attended technical school and later graduated from UMIST in 1934, where he earned a diploma in engineering in 1945. As a part of his education, he also worked in a variety of different positions at the A.V. Roe plant, in between attending classes. He spent the last 6 months of this training at the A.V. Roe airfield at Woodford, where he learned to fly in a monoplane. After graduating, Floyd joined Roy Chadwick’s group of designers and worked with Chadwick on the Avro Anson, Manchester, Lancaster, York and Lincoln designs. He was part of a small team that turned the twin-engined Manchester into the four-engined Lancaster bomber, which would become one of the most famous and vital aircraft of World War II. He was later appointed Chief Project Engineer at the Avro design office in Yorkshire, working on the application of jet technology to transport aircraft. During his early career he was privileged to work under the guidance of two great British designers, Sir Sydney Camm of Hawker Aircraft, designer of the famous Hurricane Fighter and the Harrier 'jump jet', and Roy Chadwick, designer of the Avro Lancaster bomber. ^{[2] [3] [4]}

Avro Canada

He moved to Canada to join the new A.V. Roe Canada, more commonly known as Avro Canada, in 1946, and, in 1952, he was named Chief Engineer. He worked on such aircraft as the C102 Avro Jetliner, CF-100 Canuck jet fighter, and the CF-105 Avro Arrow supersonic interceptor, through which he and Canada were recognised as international leaders in aeronautical engineering.

Floyd's work on jet transport in the UK led to the Avro Canada C102 Jetliner. The Jetliner had been designed for a Trans Canada Airlines (TCA) requirement in 1946. Despite being the first jet-powered airliner in North America, and the second to fly worldwide, the Jetliner was never destined to go into production. When the Canadian government insisted that Avro concentrate on its jet engine and CF-100 designs, Floyd was named as Project Designer for the CF-100 in 1952. ^[5]

Like thousands of other Avro Canada employees, Floyd was laid off in the wake of the Avro CF-105 Arrow/ Orenda Iroquois engine cancellation of 20 February 1959, "Black Friday." After securing positions in other companies for many of the engineers in his department, Floyd and his family moved back to England in 1959. He headed up Hawker Siddeley's Advanced Projects Group that developed the HSA.1000 SST design evaluated as part of a joint research study with Bristol whose design ultimately became the Concorde. Floyd later worked as a consultant from 1965 to 1972. ^{[6] [Note 1]}

Since his retirement in 1979, Floyd has devoted free time to a number of educational and youth-oriented projects. Floyd and his family returned to Canada in 1981. ^[7] and, as of 2014, is living in the Greater Toronto area near the site of the now-demolished Avro Canada company buildings in Malton, Ontario.

Honours

In 1950, Floyd was awarded the Wright Brothers Medal from the Society of Automotive Engineers for his paper on the Jetliner [1](the first non-American recipient); in 1993, he was inducted into the Canadian Aviation Hall of Fame and named a Companion of the Order of Flight by the City of Edmonton. Floyd also was awarded the J.A. McCurdy trophy in 1958 for his work on the Avro Arrow. In May 2000, he was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Engineering Design by the Royal Military College of Canada.

On 20 July 2009, Floyd was awarded the first Canadian Air and Space Pioneer Award in a ceremony at the former Canadian Air and Space Museum at Downsview Park, Toronto, Canada. ^{[8] [9]}

Later life

2014 was an eventful year for Jim Floyd, which saw the passing of his wife, Irene, after 74 years of marriage and the celebration of 100th birthday, on October 20th. ^[10]

Notes

References

Bibliography