joker, and after he was stopped lighting fireworks in a public house, he went outside. As he bent down to light the firework, a passer-by enquired what he was doing, his reply was that he was an IRA man and was going to blow up the town hall, prompting the passer-by to knock him down. Comper hit his head on the kerb, suffered a cerebral haemorrhage and died later in hospital, aged 42. After Comper's death, the Comper CF.1 Fly was completed with RAF serial T1788 by Heston Aircraft Company, who failed to make it fly with the available engine power. Comper's collaborator on the CF.1 project, Gerard Fane, later developed the concept into a newly designed Air Observation Post (AOP) aircraft, the Fane F.1/40. Aircraft designed and flown 1924 - Cranwell CLA.2 1925 - Cranwell CLA.3 1926 - Cranwell CLA.4 1930 - Comper Swift 1932 - Cierva C.25 1933 - Comper Mouse 1934 - Comper Streak 1934 - Comper Kite Notes References Aitken, Kenneth. February 1994. Fathers of British Aviation No.12: Nicholas Comper. Aeroplane Monthly. IPC Media Boughton, Terence. 1963. The Story of The British Light Aeroplane. John Murray Meaden, Jack & Fillmore, Malcolm. (Winter 2003). The Comper Lightplanes. Air-Britain Archive (quarterly). Air-Britain. Riding, Richard T. August&September 1978. British Pre-war Ultra-lights No.28: Comper Swift. Aeroplane Monthly. IPC Media Riding, Richard T. 1987. Ultralights: The Early British Classics. Patrick Stephens Riding, Richard T. March 2003. Database: Comper Swift. Aeroplane Monthly. IPC Media External links Nick Comper official website English aviators English aerospace engineers Royal Air Force officers 1897 births 1939 deaths Accidental deaths in England People from Lambeth Alumni of Jesus College, Cambridge Royal Flying Corps officers British Army personnel of World War I