About Ken Wallis
Wing Commander Kenneth Horatio Wallis was a British aviator, engineer, and inventor. During the Second World War, Wallis served in the Royal Air Force and flew 28 bomber missions over Germany; after the war, he moved on to research and development, before retiring in 1964. He later became one of the leading exponents of autogyros and earned 34 world records, still holding eight of them at the time of his death in 2013. Wallis took an interest in powerboats which he kept up until 1957, when he won the 56-mile (90 km) long Missouri Marathon. Wallis was the recognized world record holder for many categories of autogyro records over the years, and was also recognized as the oldest pilot to set a world flight record at the age of 89. Following the end of the Second World War, he was involved in research and development, and was awarded a number of patents on his inventions. Wallis held most of the autogyro world records during his autogyro flying career.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.