Bentfield Hucks

Bentfield Hucks
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Full name Bentfield Charles Hucks
Born (1884-10-25)25 October 1884
Stanstead, Essex, England
Died 7 November 1918(1918-11-07) (aged 34)
Bourne End, Wooburn, Buckinghamshire, England
Resting place Highgate Cemetery
Nationality United Kingdom
Aviation career
Flight license May 1911
Rank Captain

Bentfield Charles Hucks (25 October 1884 – 7 November 1918) was an aviation pioneer in the early 20th century. As well as test flying numerous aircraft types, he was the first Briton to perform a loop in an aircraft, which he performed in his Blériot at Hendon airfield in September 1913.[1] He is also credited with the Hucks starter and many feats of test flying during the First World War, while working at Hendon for Airco.

Life

Hucks was born on 25 October 1884 at Bentfield End, Stansted, Essex the son of William and Kate Hucks. Hucks gained his Royal Aero Club certificate (number 91) in May, 1911, flying a Blackburn monoplane. He joined the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) when war broke out in August, 1914, and was sent to the Western Front. But he was sent home invalid after an attack of pleurisy before working as a test pilot at Hendon, north-west London.[2]

He died on 7 November 1918, just days before the end of the First World War, of double pneumonia. He was buried in Highgate Cemetery.[3]

References

  1. ↑ "British Civil Aviation in 1913". http://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/milestones-of-flight/british_civil/1913.cfm. External link in |work= (help);
  2. ↑ O'Neill, Dan. "Reaching for the sky with 'B C' Hucks". Retrieved May 2011.
  3. ↑ Commonwealth War Graves Commission
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