De Havilland, Geoffrey (1882-1965)

English aircraft designer who designed and whose company produced the Moth biplane, the Mosquito fighter-bomber of World War II, and in 1949 the Comet, the world's first jet-driven airliner to enter commercial service. He was knighted in 1944.

After designing a fighter and a bomber for use in World War I, he founded the De Havilland Aircraft Company in 1920. This was eventually absorbed into the Hawker Siddeley conglomerate.

De Havilland was born near High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, and as a youth designed and built steam cars and motorcycles. In 1908-09, he constructed his first aeroplane. De Havilland's design had a better aerodynamic shape than earlier biplanes. However, he had never flown before (indeed, he had only ever seen one aircraft flying in the distance), and his first flight ended in the aircraft being wrecked.

In the 1920s and 1930s the De Havilland Company produced a series of light transport aircraft and the Moth series of private planes, starting with the Cirrus Moth in 1925. The all-wood Mosquito was at first rejected by the Air Ministry, but went into squadron service in September 1941. Faster than the Spitfire, it could out-fly virtually anything in the air.

After World War II the De Havilland Company put a range of jet-powered aircraft into production, many of which used the company's own engines.