Sammy Wroath(1908-1995)
- Stunts
Sammy Wroath was born in the Cornish fishing village of Newlyn in 1909 and it was originally intended that he would join the merchant navy. However, during WWI a seaplane station had been established nearby, and Sammy became obsessed with flight, so at the age of 14 he joined the RAF as a mechanic apprentice at RAF Halton. He was unofficially taught to fly by one of the officers and, realizing that he had potential, they put him in for official pilot training. Sammy graduated as a pilot officer and was posted to No 1 Fighter Squadron, but after a short time his remarkable talent for flying was recognized and he found himself giving air displays and evaluating new aeroplanes for the RAF. In the mid 1930s he was the principal RAF test pilot for the Hawker Hurricane, and one of the RAF test pilots for the Supermarine Spitfire. His displays with the Hurricane drew the attention of MGM, who requested that the RAF let him fly for them, standing in for Clark Gable in the 1938 film 'Test Pilot'.
The high mortality rate of test pilots in WWII resulted in Sammy being asked to set up a test pilot training school for the RAF, so in 1943 he became founding Commandant of the Empire Test Pilots School, the first such school in the world. He went on to assist in setting up similar schools in a number of allied countries, including the USA. While in the USA he was tasked with evaluating new American planes for the RAF, which led to him becoming personal friends with Howard Hughes and a number of USAF test pilots. On returning to the UK Sammy again flew as a test pilot for the RAF, and again commanded the ETPS from 1953 until he retired from the RAF in 1957. During his RAF career he had flown over 4,500 hours' on over 300 different aircraft, going from primitive biplanes to supersonic jets, and from mechanic apprentice to Group Captain.
Post-RAF Sammy worked on aircraft development for a number of British companies. The last planes that he worked on were the Sepecat Jaguar and BAe Hawk, for which he was involved in the engine development with Rolls Royce.
He carried on working part time as a consultant until his death in 1995.