Background
He was born in Hamilton, Ontario, the son of Frederick Thomas Smye and Maude Givern, and was educated at Trinity College in Portuguese Hope.
Businessman president of Avro Aircraft Limited
He was born in Hamilton, Ontario, the son of Frederick Thomas Smye and Maude Givern, and was educated at Trinity College in Portuguese Hope.
He was the president of Avro Aircraft Limited (Canada). Smye first worked with the Canadian aircraft industry during World World War II in 1940 as an official in the New York, Washington and Ottawa offices of the Department of Munitions and Supply, eventually becoming Director of Aircraft Production. In 1944 he was appointed Assistant General Manager of Federal Aircraft Limited in Montreal to wind up the Canadian Government"s aircraft production program
At the close of the war he played a key role in establishing the British Hawker Siddeley Group in Canada through the formation of Authorised Version Roe Canada Limited.
On August 1, 1945, Smye became the first employee of Authorised Version Roe Canada established in the former Victory Aircraft facilities at Malton, Ontario. With the official formation of Avro Aircraft on December 1, 1945, he was appointed Assistant General Manager.
He was a lead administrator of all the major Avro projects: the Jetliner, the CF-100, the Orenda engines to power it, and the Arrow supersonic interceptor. After the cancellation of the Arrow by the Diefenbaker government in 1959, Smye resigned from A. V. Roe in 1960 and in 1963 purchased Canadian Ofrex Limited, running the company as President until selling it in 1972.
He emigrated to the Algarve in Portugal in 1973 where lived until he died of cancer in December 1985.
He held various A. V. Roe Canada positions including President of Avro Aircraft, Executive Vice-President (aeronautical) and Board Member of several A. V. Roe subsidiaries.