Ernest Walter Stedman

Ernest Walter Stedman, C.B., O.B.E., was born in Mailing, Kent, England, on July 23, 1888. He attended boarding school in Kent, followed by four years of practical training at H.M. Dockyard Sheerness Apprentice School. He was accepted at the Royal College of Science, London, as a Whitworth Scholar, and completed his formal education in 1911.

For the next two years Stedman was employed as a draftsman on marine engines and taught evening classes in engineering subjects at Hartley University. As a result of a general interest in aviation and a visit to the National Physical Laboratories at Teddington where he saw experimental work being done in a wind tunnel, he applied for a position. He was hired as a Junior Scientific Assistant in 1913 and spent a year engaged in pioneer work in aerodynamics.

With the advent of World War I, he began work in the Design Branch of the Air Department of the Admiralty, attached to the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS). His engineering abilities were soon recognized, and he held a number of appointments related to aircraft design during the war. In 1918 he transferred to the Royal Air Force (RAF) and assumed command of an Aircraft Repair Depot in France. Later, he worked on applied design in the Air Ministry, where he remained until 1919. For his dedication and contributions to the technical development of the aeroplane, Lieutenant-Colonel Stedman was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (O.B.E., Military).

In 1919 EW Stedman came to Harbour Grace, Newfoundland, as the engineer in charge of the Handley-Page bomber that was competing for the Daily Mail prize of $10,000 for the first non-stop Trans-Atlantic flight - a prize which was won by Alcock and Brown in a Vickers Vimy bomber on June 14, 1919.

He immigrated to Canada in 1920 and was appointed to the Technical Branch of Canada's Air Board for the control of aeronautics. In 1922 he established the Aircraft Inspection Department at Camp Borden, Ontario which was responsible for the airworthiness of all aircraft in Canada. He transferred to the Canadian Air Force in May 1922, where he, as Wing Commander, provided direction to the research and development of better and safer aircraft and the regulations which govern their design. He prepared a critical report for the RAF that compared aircraft and engines of various countries. It recognized the need to develop an advantageous speed differential for British aircraft, recommendations which had far reaching effects. The Supermarine Company developed racers which won the seaplane race for the Schneider Cup. The new, streamlined design for this aircraft was the basis for the development of the Spitfire.

With the reorganization of Canada's Department of National Defence in 1927, an Aeronautical Engineering Division headed by Stedman was formed to serve the RCAF, the Civil Air Operations Branch, and the Controller of Civil Aviation. For thirteen years in this capacity, he contributed to the advancement of aeronautical research and aircraft maintenance.

From 1939 Stedman was actively involved in the rapid expansion of the RCAF to meet its operational wartime commitments, as well as the varied technical requirements of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (BCATP). He rose through the Officer ranks and was promoted to Air Vice-Marshal in 1940. He is credited with the foresight to recommend the purchase of helicopters for search and rescue, radar aids for pilots and the entry of Canada into the field of jet propulsion. He was at the centre of every major technical development in which the RCAF was involved, including the development of Canada's first jet engine by Orenda, a subsidiary of Avro Canada Ltd.

His contributions to Canadian aviation have been recognized by numerous honours. In 1939 he received the Julian C. Smith Memorial Medal from the Engineering Institute of Canada; in 1944 he was appointed a Companion of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath (C.B.), and in 1945 he received the Legion of Merit of the United States in the Degree of Commander.

Following his retirement from the service in 1946, Stedman was appointed Assistant Professor in the Engineering Department of Carleton College, Ottawa. His well-rounded career has been thoroughly described in his memoirs, "From Boxkite to Jet", which were completed shortly before his death in Ottawa on March 27, 1957.

Ernest Walter Stedman was inducted as a Member of Canada's Aviation Hall of Fame in 1982 at a ceremony held in Edmonton, Alberta.