Henry Millicer

Henry Millicer (seated, right) in a prototype wooden buck of the Airtourer, 1957. (Museums Victoria)

Henry K. Millicer, AM (11 June 1915 – 28 August 1996), born Henryk Kazimierz Milicer, was a Polish-born Australian aeronautical engineer, aircraft designer and pilot. He worked in Europe before migrating to Australia in 1950, later contributing to the development of the Victa Airtourer and the Victa Aircruiser.

Early life and education

Millicer was born in Warsaw, Poland. He developed an early interest in aviation and trained as a glider pilot while still a teenager. After completing studies in aeronautical engineering, he worked as a junior designer at Państwowe Zakłady Lotnicze (PZL) and later at the Polish manufacturer RWD.

Millicer also developed a four-seat derivative design, the Victa Aircruiser, for which a prototype was built and flown in 1966. The concept later informed the New Zealand-developed PAC CT/4 military trainer after the Victa programme ended.

Millicer later joined the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT, now RMIT University) as a lecturer in aeronautics and contributed to the development of its teaching and research activities in aeronautical engineering.

Later life

Millicer retired in 1980 but remained associated with aeronautical engineering education and aircraft design. In 1984, he received an honorary doctorate from RMIT, and in 1992 he was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia.

Millicer died in 1996. According to published accounts, his ashes were scattered from an aircraft near Anglesea, Victoria, off the Great Ocean Road.