| Arthur Ernest Hagg | |
| Birth Date: | 1888 |
| Death Date: | (aged 96–97) |
| Occupation: | Aircraft designer |
| Known For: | responsible for the designs of the de Havilland DH.88 Comet racer, Albatross, Express and Airspeed Ambassador airliners |
Arthur Ernest Hagg (1888 – 21 January 1985[1]) was a British aircraft and boat designer.
He was born in Brighton and educated in Bournemouth. He started work for Airco in 1915, aged 27, and worked as a draftsman on the DH4 in 1916. He transferred to the de Havilland Aircraft company (Stag Lane) when it was created in 1920.[2]
At de Havilland he invented the differential ailerons used on the Tiger Moth and other de Havilland aircraft[3] eventually becoming chief designer. In this role he was responsible for the designs of the DH88 Comet racer and of the Albatross and the Express airliners.[1]
Hagg became interested in boat building and in early 1937 he resigned his position as director and chief designer at de Havilland to set up the Walton Yacht Works.[2] In November of that year he also became a consultant with D Napier and Son, Ltd., overseeing Heston's design team for the Napier-Heston Racer, a wooden aircraft powered by a 2450hp Napier Sabre engine and designed to break the world airspeed record.[4] [5] [6] In January 1943 he joined Airspeed Ltd. as technical director and was responsible for the Airspeed Ambassador (BEA Elizabethan).[7] He retired in 1947.[8]