Sydney Cotton: Difference between revisions
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'''Sydney Cotton''' (1894-1969) was an [[Australia]]n-born aviation pioneer and adventurer. He developed British [[imagery intelligence|Photographic Reconnaissance Unit]], originally working for the [[Secret Intelligence Service]] after the [[Royal Air Force]] initially decided there was no need to take photographs of Germany before the Second World War. He flew weapons into Pakistan and other crisis areas after the war. | '''Sydney Cotton''' (1894-1969) was an [[Australia]]n-born aviation pioneer and adventurer. He developed British [[imagery intelligence|Photographic Reconnaissance Unit]], originally working for the [[Secret Intelligence Service]] (SIS) after the [[Royal Air Force]] (RAF) initially decided there was no need to take photographs of Germany before the Second World War. He flew weapons into Pakistan and other crisis areas after the war. | ||
==Early aviation== | ==Early aviation== | ||
Before the war, he was a [[barnstormer]] in [[Queensland]], and developed the Sidcot Flying Suit, and worked in marketing an early color photographic process. ,<ref name=JonesWizard>{{citation | |||
| author = Jones, R. V. | |||
| year = 1978 | |||
| title = The Wizard War: British Scientific Intelligence 1939-1945 | |||
| publisher = Coward, McCann & Geohegan }}, p. 130</ref | |||
==World War II== | ==World War II== | ||
Under [[F.W. Winterbotham]]. SIS supported his clandestine photographic operations in 1939, beginning with overflights of Italian colonies in Africa and later over Germany. Landing in Germany , he was introducd to [[Hermann Goering]], head of the [[Luftwaffe]]. anding at Berlin's Tempelhof airport.<ref>{{citation | |||
| title = MI6 agent's pre-war spy plane is for sale | | title = MI6 agent's pre-war spy plane is for sale | ||
| author = Michael Smith | date = 12 June 2000 | | author = Michael Smith | date = 12 June 2000 | ||
| journal = Telegraph (UK) | | journal = Telegraph (UK) | ||
| url = http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1342371/MI6-agents-pre-war-spy-plane-is-for-sale.html}}</ref> | | url = http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1342371/MI6-agents-pre-war-spy-plane-is-for-sale.html}}</ref> | ||
Both in technology and operations, he was an innovator in photoreconnaissance. When the RAF's cameras would fail to operate, he solved a freezing problem by directing warm air onto them. By fine-tuning the streamlining of aircraft, including moving to smooth gloss paint, he added 20-30 mph to the speed of his reconnaissance platforms. | |||
==References== | ==References== | ||
{{reflist}} | {{reflist}} |
Revision as of 10:14, 13 February 2011
Sydney Cotton (1894-1969) was an Australian-born aviation pioneer and adventurer. He developed British Photographic Reconnaissance Unit, originally working for the Secret Intelligence Service (SIS) after the Royal Air Force (RAF) initially decided there was no need to take photographs of Germany before the Second World War. He flew weapons into Pakistan and other crisis areas after the war.
Early aviation
Before the war, he was a barnstormer in Queensland, and developed the Sidcot Flying Suit, and worked in marketing an early color photographic process. ,Cite error: Closing </ref>
missing for <ref>
tag
Both in technology and operations, he was an innovator in photoreconnaissance. When the RAF's cameras would fail to operate, he solved a freezing problem by directing warm air onto them. By fine-tuning the streamlining of aircraft, including moving to smooth gloss paint, he added 20-30 mph to the speed of his reconnaissance platforms.