Francis Rodwell Banks Air Commodore Francis Rodwell " Rod " Banks , RAF ( ret ' d ) , CB . , OBE . , Commander of Legion of Honour ( France ) , Commander of the Legion of Merit ( USA ) , Military Order of St . Stanislaus ( Imperial Russia ) , Hon . CGIA . , Hon . FRAeS , Hon . FAIAA . , FlMechE . , Flnst Pet . , FRSA , CEng . , MSAE , ( 22 March 1898 – 1985 ) was a British engineer who was involved in the development of the internal combustion engine , as well as special fuels for the engine , and was one of the people responsible for the development of higher octane fuels . Early life . Francis Rodwell Banks was born on 22 March 1898 , son of Bernard Rodwell and Frances Emily Banks . He married Christine Constance Grant Langlands in 1925 , the couple having two daughters . He was educated at Christ ' s College , Cambridge . Banks entered the Royal Navy at the age of sixteen in 1914 . After promotion , he commanded several coastal motor boat s , his navy service ending in 1919 while on service in the Caspian Sea during the Russian Revolution . Interwar years . Between the First World War and the subsequent world conflict , he was involved in the development of marine diesel engines , later leading to involvement as a consultant on the problems of various car , airship , and aircraft piston engines . In 1925 , he became chief experimental engineer at Peter Hooker Ltd . , working to develop the 1500HP 178litre ELS ' Stromboli ' airship engine . Before long , having recognised the inadequacy of existing fuels , Banks was working on the development of improved fuels , concentrating on increasing the octane rating , which allowed the use of higher compression ratios , in particular the fuel additive tetraethyllead . In 1928 , he joined the Anglo - American Oil Company and by 1930 , had joined Ethyl Gasoline Corporation ( export division ) , which , in 1931 , became the Ethyl Export Corporation . This work embraced the principal aero engine and automobile manufacturers in the U . K . and Europe , including the military air forces and commercial airlines . In addition the work covered motor racing fuels . His work was such that he was invited to develop the fuels used in the UK ' s Schneider Trophy entrants , his fuel blends contributing to the success of the British entries in 1929 and 1931 . At this time , he was also involved in developing the fuels used by Henry Segrave and John Cobb in their land and water speed record attempts . Banks gave a paper on ethyl in 1934 , to the Royal Aeronautical Society , for which he received the Taylor Gold Medal . World War II . With the coming of war , Banks entered the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve as a junior officer , being sent to work at the Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment ( A & AEE ) at Boscombe Down , and with his previous work attracting the attention of Lord Beaverbrook , Banks was accredited as a ' troubleshooter ' and given special powers . After a while , Banks was promoted to air commodore and was made successively , ' director general of engine production ' , and ' director of engine research and development ' , with the objective to plan the post - war future of the aero gas turbine for both military use and commercial applications . Post war . In 1946 Banks rejoined the Ethyl Corporation ( Associated Ethyl , as it still was ) , also taking a number of directorships : loaned back as ' principal director of engine research and development ' at the Ministry of Supply in 1952 , also in 1955 as a director of the Bristol Aeroplane Company , and after the merging of Bristol Aero Engines with Armstrong Siddeley , their overall ' director of sales ' in 1959 . With the later mergers within the British aircraft industry , Banks became involved with the Hawker Siddeley company , in 1963 becoming ' assistant managing director ' and ' chief executive ( civil aircraft ) ' at Hatfield , the former home of the de Havilland Company . Retirement . On reaching the age of 70 , Banks retired , taking posts as consultants with a number of American aviation firms , with which he was still active at the age of 80 . He died in 1985 , at the age of 87 . References . " I Kept No Diary " Air Commodore F . R . " Rod " Banks - Airlife - 1978 - ISBN 0 - 9504543 - 9 - 7