Beatrice Shilling

Rare card · No. 33978

Beatrice Shilling (known as Tilly) (8 March 1909 – 18 November 1990) was an English aeronautical engineer, motorcycle racer and sports car racer. In 1949, Shilling was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire. During the Second World War Shilling designed the RAE Restrictor (which became known as Miss Shilling's orifice), a simple device that overcame the problem of the Rolls-Royce Merlin aeroplane engines losing power during negative-g manoeuvres. After the war, Shilling also worked on the Blue Streak missile, researched the effect of a wet runway upon braking, and helped design and build a bobsled for the Royal Air Force's Olympic team. As a motorcycle racer, Shilling is one of only three women who have received the British Motorcycle Racing Club Gold Star for having lapped the Brooklands circuit at over 100 miles per hour (160 km/h) on a motorcycle. In sports car racing, she scored several podium finishes at the Goodwood Circuit Members' Meetings.

Read on Wikipedia · Image Photographer not known, but picture is believed to date from the 1930s., Public domain