Thomas —, British aviation pioneer; founder of the Hawker Siddeley engineering group (7)
![Ross](/clue/static/ross-mug.min.png)
I believe the answer is:
sopwith
(Other definitions for sopwith that I've seen before include "Camel plane designer" , "Early aviation company, made Pup and Camel fighters" , "Early aviation pioneer" , "aircraft designer" .)