COMBAT AND COMPETITION.pdf - Lakes Gliding Club

COMBAT AND COMPETITION
While we were laying the 'Swallow' to rest there was trouble
brewing at Lewisham, in the sales department of the Aviation
Division. I was making life difficult for them - or so they thought.
The Aviation Division, totally separate from the Research Laboratory
at Borehamwood, was run by two managers, working in double
harness. Wally Monk, who looked after sales, and David Broadbent
who ran the engineering and production unit at Rochester.
Between them they had created a business based on manufacture
under licence. Jindevik drone target autopilots, and a range of Bendix
instruments, including a fuel flowmeter. Although they were in a
totally different line Wally and David obviously resented another
rapidly expanding aviation activity elsewhere in the company. To
make matters worse their flowmeter production was in trouble and Bill
Alexander had been sent to Rochester to sort it out.
Wally was a strange mixture, ambitious and technically naive, a
retired Wing Commander who had joined Elliotts from the earlier
Ministry of Aircraft Production. Although he still regarded the
autopilot as a 'button on' extra and resented the idea of an integrated
system, because it was engineering oriented, Wally was shrewd enough
to recognise its importance. In true Elliott fashion he used his elbows,
demanding that all the aviation sales effort should come under one
roof, which should be his and, to my horror, Dr Ross agreed.
Wally and I were oil and water and commuting to Lewisham from
northwest London was a bind. But when he tried to break my
engineering links with Borehamwood, which were essential on the
advanced projects, the writing was on the wall.
During that period, before leaving Elliotts, I attended a Lightning
autopilot and OR 946 progress meeting at Warton with Jack Pateman.
Some days earlier I had answered an advertisement by Pergamon Press.
Robert Maxwell was looking for a marketeer, to attend scientific
conferences, around the world, and solicit prospective authors for
a new range of publications.
My reply drew a positive response and an interview had been set
up, at Pergamon's London office, about two hours before the last train
of the day was due to leave for Lytham St Anne's. Catching it was
vital, as the meeting at English Electric was due to start at 9 am on the
following morning, and I had made this absolutely clear to his
secretary.
The whole thing was quite extraordinary. Maxwell put on a pair of
very dark glasses and sank back onto a couch beside his desk. Tilting
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