He was initially rejected as a pilot by the Fleet Air Arm. He joined Fairey Aviation as a test pilot in 1946 and flew many of the company’s aircraft, including the Fairey Primer, Fairey Gannet, Fairey Firefly, and Fairey Rotodyne compound-helicopter. In 1954, he became Fairey Aviation’s Chief Test Pilot.

Every field of human endeavour has its share of records, none more than aviation. The speed record—the highest air speed attained by an aircraft of a specified class—holds a particular fascination in the popular imagination. The Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) awarded the first officially recognised air speed record to Alberto Santos-Dumont in November 1906, when he flew his 17-bis aircraft at 25.65 miles per hour (mph). Considering that the first controlled powered flight in history—by Wilbur Wright in the Wright Flyer in December 1903—was flown at about 6.82 mph, this was no mean achievement. The record inched upward gradually till the 100 mph mark was crossed by Jules Vedrines who piloted a Deperdussin Monocoque at 100.18 mph in February 1912. All these records were set at sea level. However, the advent of jet-powered aircraft triggered a new wave of record-breaking flights beginning with flying faster than the speed of sound (760 mph at sea level) and speed marks had now to be set at high altitude. For many years, national technological prowess was measured by ever-higher speeds, and the pilots who flew the latest designs became famous. In October 1955, the air speed record stood at 822.1 mph in the name of Colonel Horace Hanes of the USA, flying a North American F-100C Super Sabre. Then Peter Twiss decided to break it.

Lionel Peter Twiss was born in Lindfield, UK, on July 23, 1921. He was initially rejected as a pilot by the Fleet Air Arm. However, when the Second World War broke out in 1939, he was enlisted as a Naval Airman and learned to fly. He was assigned to fly Hawker Hurricanes and stationed on a merchant ship for its defence against long-range German aircraft. Take-off from the deck was performed with the help of a catapult. However, there was no way to get back—the pilot had either to try and return to the land or bail out close to the convoy and hope to be recovered.

In 1945, Twiss attended the Empire Test Pilots School. He joined Fairey Aviation as a test pilot in 1946 and flew many of the company’s aircraft, including the Fairey Primer, Fairey Gannet, Fairey Firefly, and Fairey Rotodyne compound-helicopter. In 1954, he became Fairey Aviation’s Chief Test Pilot. He worked two years on the Fairey Delta 2 (FD2), a research plane produced in response to a specification from the UK Ministry of Supply for investigation into flight and control at transonic and supersonic speeds. Its maiden flight, with Twiss in the cockpit, occurred on October 6, 1954. It was a mid-wing tailless delta monoplane, with a circular cross-section fuselage and air-inlets blended into the wing roots. The engine was a Rolls-Royce Avon RA.5 with an afterburner. The plane had a very long tapering nose which meant that the pilot would have to fly blind during take-off, landing and taxiing on the ground. To compensate, the nose section and cockpit drooped 10 degrees—establishing the pattern for Concorde’s famous nose droop years later.