Thomas Sopwith
Pilot
Pilot and aircraft engineer who designed British war planes during the two World Wars.
He taught himself to fly and set several records for endurance flights before founding his own airplane manufacturing company.
His company manufactured the Sopwith Camel and the Triplane during World War I and the Hurricane Fighter and Lancaster Bomber during World War II.
His father was killed in a tragic accident when Sopwith was just ten years old.
He and William Boeing were both pilots-turned-airplane-manufacturers.