Perhaps this could be a new thread.
This is Sir Thomas Sopwith with his wife.
In his youth he tried ballooning, motor racing and ice skating.
Sir Thomas learned to fly in 1910.
In 1912 he set up the Sopwith Aviation company and in the first world war the company produced many famous fighter planes. The most famous being the Sopwith Camel which is probably the plane on your Squadron Leader tins.
Between the wars he competed in the America's cup yacht race with two J Class yachts.
He set up another famous company, Hawker aircraft which produced beautiful biplanes pre-war and then the Hawker Hurricane, Typhoon, Tempest in WW2
He died in 1980 aged 101
This is Sir Thomas Sopwith with his wife.
In his youth he tried ballooning, motor racing and ice skating.
Sir Thomas learned to fly in 1910.
In 1912 he set up the Sopwith Aviation company and in the first world war the company produced many famous fighter planes. The most famous being the Sopwith Camel which is probably the plane on your Squadron Leader tins.
Between the wars he competed in the America's cup yacht race with two J Class yachts.
He set up another famous company, Hawker aircraft which produced beautiful biplanes pre-war and then the Hawker Hurricane, Typhoon, Tempest in WW2
He died in 1980 aged 101