Norman de Bruyne was a man of outstanding achievements and in 1967 he was elected to the Fellowship of The Royal Society. The citation at the time read:

Distinguished for his practical application of science to certain problems in aircraft construction, especially the use of plastic materials and adhesives….

His was a strong personality and he acquired many life–long friends. His approach to engineering challenges-and a hint of his puckish sense of humour–are contained in the single word that he used for his entry in Who's Who: under the heading ‘Recreations’ he wrote ‘inventing’