The Inventive Brits: BUG-EYed Optica

Series

Series Name: Living Tomorrow

Issue

Issue No.

254

Date Released

1980

Length of issue (in feet)

522

Stories in this Issue:

Story

Story No. within this Issue

3 / 3

Summary

COI synopsis: George Stephenson and Logie Baird are just two of a sterling breed of men who love inventing things: the British. Whether it’s in a tiny shed at the bottom of the garden or in a large established firm, the British inventor treads boldly where no man has trod before. John Edgeley trained as a civil engineer, but a fascination with flight heralded a new career - aircraft design. His ambition was to build a fixed wing aeroplane that could hover like a helicopter without the drawbacks of noise and high fuel consumption. The huge bulbous eyes of a hovering dragonfly were his design inspiration and John devoted all his energy and life savings to a dream. Five years later a strange looking beast emerged for its test run, and John saw his dream take flight.

Researcher Comments

Story also appears in ‘Living Tomorrow No. 303’

Keywords

Aircraft; Science and technology; Engineering; Inventions and discoveries; Design

Written sources

COI Microfilm Roll 55 [BFI National Archive] Used for synopsis

COI Reference

MI 1458/254

Credits:

Sponsor: Central Office of Information (COI)
Sponsor: Foreign & Commonwealth Office
Cutter: Fred Goodland

This series is held by:

Film Archive

Name: British Film Institute (BFI)
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Notes: The BFI National Archive also preserves the original nitrate film copies of British Movietone News, British Paramount News, Empire News Bulletin, Gaumont British News, Gaumont Graphic, Gaumont Sound News and Universal News (the World War II years are covered by the Imperial War Museum).
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