Enagh Cemetery

Professor Geoffrey T. R. Hill: Remembering an aviation visionary, laid to rest just beyond the cemetery walls.
On a secluded patch beyond the walls of Enagh Cemetery lies the understated grave of Professor Geoffrey Terence Roland Hill, M.C., D.Sc., M.I. Mech. E., F.R. Aer. S. A trailblazing aviation pioneer, Hill revolutionised early aeronautics with his bold tailless aircraft designs – most famously the innovative Westland-Hill “Pterodactyl” series of the 1920s and ’30s, created to be stall-proof and aerodynamically efficient.

Born in London in 1895, Hill was the son of UCL’s Professor of Mathematics. He began building model aircraft in his teens, progressing to a full-size glider by 1912. He went on to earn his B.Sc. in 1914 and joined the Royal Aircraft Factory, becoming a test pilot, serving as a Captain in the Royal Flying Corps, and being awarded the Military Cross for bravery.

His experimental flying wings were recognised for their safety and recovery features – designed to virtually eliminate stalling through a clever combination of swept wings and wash-out twist to maintain pitch stability without a horizontal tail. After his pioneering work with Westland, Hill later became an influential aeronautical academic and innovator –proposing the “aero-isoclinic wing,” serving as British liaison officer to Canada’s NRC (developing tailless glider projects), and consulting on the experimental Short SB.4 Sherpa.

Though his innovations soared across continents, Hill sought solitude in later life – eventually passing away in 1955 and being laid to rest just outside the cemetery walls at Enagh Lough, a quiet tribute to a man who forever transformed the skies.

In a peaceful cradle beyond Enagh Lough Cemetery walls lies a legacy of wings and wonder – a reminder that innovation is often found in the most unusual of places.