One hundred years of aeronautics in East London

Abstract

This paper celebrates the centenary of Queen Mary College’s involvement in aeronautics, a celebration with a unique distinction since it was this College’s immediate forebear which was the first British higher education institution to begin teaching and research in this subject. Thus the emphasis is on the early years from 1907 until the 1950s, a period ripe for recording before it recedes beyond living memory, but also the period during which the degree course in aeronautical engineering became firmly established and its parent Department acquired its reputation for research. Section 2.0 gives a brief history of the College’s origins in the East London College. Subsequent sections deal with the foundation of the aeronautical laboratory there, from which the aeronautical department grew, and the activities of the two men who led these developments, A.P. Thurston and N.A.V. Tonnstein who changed his name to Piercy.