William Kilpatrick Stewart

Air Vice Marshal William Kilpatrick Stewart, CB, CBE, AFC, QHP (28 June 1913 – 2 May 1967) was a Scottish researcher in aerospace physiology; senior consultant in physiology to the Royal Air Force, and commanding officer of the RAF Institute of Aviation Medicine.

William Kilpatrick Stewart
Born(1913-06-28)28 June 1913
Hamilton, Lanarkshire, Scotland
Died2 May 1967(1967-05-02) (aged 53)
RAF Hospital Uxbridge, England
AllegianceUnited Kingdom
Service/branchRoyal Air Force
Years of service1939–1967
RankAir Vice Marshal
Commands heldRAF Institute of Aviation Medicine
Battles/warsSecond World War
AwardsCompanion of the Order of the Bath
Commander of the Order of the British Empire
Air Force Cross

Early life and education

William Kilpatrick Stewart was born the son of Dr. John Stewart at Hamilton, Lanarkshire. He attended Hamilton Academy.[1][2] After the Academy, Stewart matriculated at Glasgow University, graduating in medicine in 1936.

Career
Example of a G suit, the MSF830 Anti-G Suit

After appointments in Glasgow Western Infirmary, Stewart became MRC Research Fellow at the University of Cambridge, working under Lord Adrian and Sir Bryan Matthews. Joining the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve in 1939, he was appointed to the RAF Physiology Laboratory at Farnborough in 1940. During the Second World War, Stewart was to conduct original research into the physiological effects of acceleration and deceleration, extreme heat and cold and decompression, and was engaged in the design of the ejector seat, G suits and oxygen systems. He had a Gloster Gladiator aircraft converted into a flying mini-laboratory, and he himself flew some 300 test flights, using himself as a 'guinea pig' in his research. He was awarded the Air Force Cross in 1941.[3] Stewart was involved in an areoplane crash, in which he was the only survivor out of 8 men. The aircraft flew too high into a storm, broke down and Stewart used his parachute to safely descend to the ground. He landed in Yorkshire. Following the end of the Second World War, Stewart was instrumental in the successful establishment and operation of the RAF Institute of Aviation Medicine at Farnborough, and in 1946 was appointed its commanding officer. He was also an honorary lecturer in aviation physiology at the University of Glasgow.[4]

Honours, death and legacy

In 1956, Stewart was awarded the Sir Charles Wakefield Gold Medal of the Royal Aeronautical Society, and in 1961 the Theodore C. Lyster award of the Aerospace Medical Association of the United States.

Stewart was invested as a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1953, Companion of the Order of the Bath in 1964 and appointed an Honorary Physician to HM Queen Elizabeth II on 5 July 1966. He died, at the RAF Hospital Uxbridge, England, 2 May 1967. In 1969 the Stewart Lecture at the Royal Aeronautical Society, London, was established in his memory.[5][6][7][8]

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References
  1. Glasgow Herald article 26 Jan. 1967
  2. Article, Evening Times 3 February 1965
  3. The London Gazette 1 July 1941, announcement of award of the Air Force Cross – William Kilpatrick Stewart. Retrieved 4 September 2011
  4. British Medical Journal, obituary article 13 May 1967 citing career. Retrieved 4 September 2011
  5. Glasgow Herald, obituary article, 'Air Vice-Marshal Dies at 53' – William Stewart. Published 4 May 1967
  6. Saskatoon Phoenix-Star (Canada) article 'Queen's physician dies.' 4 May 1967
  7. Royal Aeronautical Society, named lectures – Stewart Lecture. Retrieved 19 January 2011
  8. Yorkshire aircraft site. Bio, AVM William Stewart. Retrieved 19 January 2011

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