Fred Murphy

[Jjr]

Hai,
After Koolhoven left Armstrong-Whitworth in 1917, Fred Murphy came in his place.
Two of his designs are mentioned, the F.M.4 Armadillo and the Ara, both biplane fighters.
Who was Fred Murphy, where did he came from and where did he go, etc.?
I could not find anything about the earlier designs F.M.1, -2, -3, was the Ara the F.M.5, this is never mentioned?
Did he designed more projects?
Jjr

 

[Apophenia]

I think the name is Frank Murphy. He had worked at Bristol (British and Colonial Aeroplane Co.) before going to Hamble River, Luke & Co. where he designed the 1914 Hamble River H.L.1 floatplane - a one-off 150 hp NAG pusher floatplane.

Under Koolhoven, Murphy had been manager of the Aviation Dept. (formed in June 1913 by works manager, Capt. L. Fairbairn-Crawford). When Koolhoven left Armstrong Whitwort, Capt. Fairbairn-Crawford appointed Murphy as head of the department.

The Armstrong Whitworth Aviation Department was shut down in October 1919. Alas, I find no record of Frank Murphy after that.