Beatrice Shilling(1909 — 1990)
Beatrice Shilling
Royaume-Uni, Royaume-Uni de Grande-Bretagne et d'Irlande
5 min read
Beatrice Shilling (1909-1990) was a British aeronautical engineer. She is famous for solving a serious flaw in the Rolls-Royce Merlin engines that powered RAF fighters during the Second World War.
Frequently asked questions
Key Facts
- Born in 1909 in England, she earned an engineering degree from the University of Manchester in the 1930s, at a time when women engineers were extremely rare.
- She joined the Royal Aircraft Establishment (RAE) at Farnborough in 1936.
- In 1941, she designed a small device (a diaphragm that restricted the fuel flow) which solved the problem of the Merlin engine cutting out during dives, nicknamed “Miss Shilling's orifice”.
- A speed enthusiast, she raced motorcycles and won a gold medal at the Brooklands circuit.
- She died in 1990 and remains a pioneering figure in women's aeronautical engineering.
Works & Achievements
Her most famous achievement: a simple pierced disc that eliminated the engine cut-out during dives in RAF fighters, without grounding the aircraft.
A rare degree for a woman at the time, which paved the way for her career as a research engineer.
An award given for completing a lap at over 160 km/h on a motorcycle, proving her talent as both a rider and a mechanic.
Post-war work on tyre friction and aquaplaning, which improved the safety of airfield runways.
Participation in cutting-edge British research on propulsion and ballistic missiles.
Appointment as Officer of the Order of the British Empire, in recognition of her contribution to aeronautical research.
Anecdotes
Passionate about mechanics from childhood, Beatrice Shilling bought a motorcycle as a teenager and took it completely apart to understand how it worked. This curiosity drove her to study electrical engineering at the University of Manchester, at a time when women there were an exceedingly rare exception.
On the Brooklands circuit, she rode a Norton she had modified with her own hands. By completing a lap at over 160 km/h, she won the prestigious “Gold Star,” a feat very few riders, men or women, had ever achieved.
According to a famous anecdote, Beatrice is said to have refused to marry her fiancé George Naylor until he too had earned the Brooklands Gold Star by riding at over 160 km/h. He managed it, and they were married.
During the war, RAF pilots affectionately nicknamed her invention “Miss Shilling's orifice.” This tiny brass disc with a hole drilled through it saved countless lives by keeping engines from cutting out in the middle of combat.
Rather than simply sending out instructions, Beatrice took to the road with a small team to fit her device onto the fighters herself, air base after air base, giving priority to the front-line squadrons.
Primary Sources
Beatrice Shilling, Esq. [sic], Bachelor of Science, Royal Aircraft Establishment — appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire for services to aeronautical research.
The R.A.E. restrictor, a calibrated orifice inserted into the carburettor's fuel inlet, limits the maximum fuel flow and prevents the engine from flooding during negative load-factor manoeuvres.
When you pushed the stick forward to dive, the Merlin spluttered and choked, whereas the fuel-injected Messerschmitt plunged without missing a beat; Miss Shilling's orifice put an end to this deadly disadvantage.
Key Places
Town in southern England where Beatrice Shilling was born in 1909.
Where she earned her degrees in electrical and then mechanical engineering, as one of very few female students.
The world's first purpose-built motor racing circuit, where she won her Gold Star on a motorcycle.
Major British aeronautical research centre where she worked from 1936 until her retirement, and where she designed her famous restrictor.
Town where she lived much of her life and where she died in 1990.