Born in 1887 Chief Draughtsman Claude Percival Thomas Lipscomb had joined Shorts in Rochester in 1914. He was part of the initial Shorts airship team to decamp to Bedford in 1916 and set up office in the town before their factory was complete. His team worked on all plans for the R31, R32, and R38 although they were overseen by Campbell’s office.
He returned to Shorts in 1921 and went on to have a very successful career designing their airplanes, becoming their Chief Designer in 1943. He died in 1974.