Henry Millicer. In 1943 he obtained a scholarship to study for a master's degree in aeronautical engineering at
Imperial College, London, joining
Airspeed in 1945 and later
Percival aircraft. The
Percival Provost design is attributed to Millicer. In 1950 he migrated to
Australia and became chief aerodynamicist at the
Government Aircraft Factories (GAF), working on the Jindivik and the
Malkara missile. With two colleagues he entered a design competition sponsored by the Royal Aero Club of
London for a replacement aircraft for the
de Havilland Chipmunk. The Millicer team beat 103 contestants and won the competition with a design that ultimately became the
Victa Airtourer. After several years of production Victa Aviation sold the rights to a
New Zealand company. Millicer also had developed a slightly larger 4 place aircraft known as the AirCruiser, with one prototype built at the Bankstown NSW Victa factory and first flown in 1966. A military trainer version of this was under development at the time of the closure of the Victa operation which was subsequently converted in NZ into the
PAC CT/4 military trainer. His other inventions include a patent for the vortex
flap and a suction grass mower (honored in the Sydney 2000 Olympics opening). He also published
Aerodynamics for Soaring Pilots for the Gliding Club of Victoria.