How did SHE Save Britain’s Troubled WW2 Spitfire Warplane?

REC Watches... Introducing the X4009 Collection, made from WWII Spitfire aircraft X4009

It was called the Battle of Britain, and England's Supermarine Spitfire played a pivotal role in the battle against Germany for air supremacy during WWII. There was just one problem, the Spitfire had a significant weakness against the German fighter planes. If it wasn’t for the ingenuity of a young female aeronautical engineer, many Spitfire pilots would’ve died.

The German counterpart, the Messerschmidt BF109 was a worth adversary. Both planes were powered by huge V-12 piston engines could surpass 350 mph. However, the Spitfire had a fuel-flow problem that made it vulnerable and could be spotted from a mile away.

0:00 Intro
0:53 The Spitfire's alarming flaw
1:19 How a carburetor works
2:30 How German pilots capitalized on the problem
3:00 Beatrice Shilling
4:05 Her invention
4:17 REC Watches Support of a Spitfire Restoration
5:28 How it got it's name
6:01 What happened to Beatrice?

COPYRIGHT DISCLAIMER UNDER SECTION 107 OF THE COPYRIGHT ACT OF 1976, ALLOWANCE IS MADE FOR “FAIR USE” FOR PURPOSES SUCH AS CRITICISM, COMMENT, NEWS REPORTING, TEACHING, SCHOLARSHIP, EDUCATION AND RESEARCH. FAIR USE IS A USE PERMITTED BY COPYRIGHT STATUTE THAT MIGHT OTHERWISE BE INFRINGING.

Screen captures and motion clips used in this video are protected by the Fair Use Law, section 107 used for commentary, criticism, news reporting or education for transformative use.

#ad #ww2 #worldwar2

[jeremypearson]

I was born and raised in the UK and hadn’t heard of this lady. Unfortunately, many people in the background that made such a difference, never got the credit they deserved. I’m glad her legacy is being honored here. Much like the ladies at Bletchley decoding German code.

[petegarnett]

Beatrice Shilling worked for the R.A.E. and designed the restrictor that partially solved the reverse flow problem. It allowed short periods of negative "g" without cut-out. At the time it was called "Miss Shillings Orifice". The other names seem to have been thought up since. The eventual total solution was the Bendix pressure carburretor which came into service in 1943.

[P-CROZIER]

An Amazing Woman, Thank You Beatrice for Your Incredible Service in WWII

[laurendoe]

It would have been nice if you described what her device did differently, and why it was so easily installed.

[SpreadEagled]

Fortunately for the Americans in the Pacific Theater, the Japanese never addressed this issue with their Zero. This same flaw was also revealed from experience with flight tests of the Zero that was captured from the Akutan Island, of the Alaska Territory. With the discovery of this flaw, plus the stiffness of the ailerons at high speed, the American pilots flying the pre-war F4Fs and P-40s were advised to avoid combat with the Zero below 16, 000 feet and to power-dive with rapid rolls to evade a pursuing Zero. The critical discovery of this flaw and the tactics to exploit it, saved the lives of many American pilots in the early months of the Pacific War.

[raymondmartin]

Never have so many owed so much to
so few, as Churchill said then about
those pilots, as my Mother told me
years later about seeing the Battle
of Britain over London in 1940.
I was born there in 1944, and after
the war, where we lived, 251 Park
West, near Edgwere Rd, above
Marble Arch, one of our neighbors
was RAF Spitfire pilot, Douglas
Bader 😊

[paul]

Just a little side note that keeps Miss Shilling’s name in the foreground. J. D. Wetherspoon’s, which is a massively popular pub chain in the UK. Has a pub in Farnborough, Hampshire, near to the site of the old R.A.E. (Royal Aircraft Establishment), called the “Tilly Shilling” hence keeping her wonderful name alive.

[kkhalifah]

A Spit's carburetor float would fully open the fuel inlet valve into the float bowl when in negative G, allowing an excessive amount of fuel to rush in and flood the carb bowl which then feeds the engine with an overly rich mixture. Miss Tilly's Orifice is a simple plug-and-play choke that can be installed in the carb's fuel inlet feed without needing to remove and disassemble the entire carb. It simply restricts the fuel flow down to a level that's just enough to feed the engine. This reduced fuel flow slows down the onset of carb flooding in a negative G situation.

[andrewtongue]

Shilling was an incredibly important innovator for the time - & my Uncle who served in the RAF would not have flown the number of sorties he did without her intercession; as a member of a generational military family, I offer my salutatiions to this lady....

[Hunpecked]

As a kid I read "Johnnie" Johnson's book "Wing Leader" (1956) about his World War II experiences in Spitfires. I still remember his accounts of German fighters diving and escaping from a fight in a maneuver his Spitfire couldn't follow. Later I read Robert S Johnson's memoir of his exploits in the P-47, "Thunderbolt" (1958). Several times he recounted German fighters trying to escape by diving, only to be shot down when he followed them in his Thunderbolt. At one point he wrote, "They never learned!" I assumed the German pilots were slow to adjust their defensive tactics, learned against Spitfires, to deal with Thunderbolts.

[heavypen]

I knew about this problem and the fact that they solved it, but I never learned the name of the engineer responsible! Thanks - excellent backgrounder.

[bluenetmarketing]

Thank God for brave people like Beatrice Shilling.

[fin]

Left the most important thing out of the video. SHOWING HOW IT WORKED!!!

[Jolly-Josh]

She wasn’t an Aeronautical Engineer, she commenced an apprenticeship in her teenage years as an electrician. Her boss saw her potential and encouraged to apply for university. She and another lady were the first woman that the University of Manchester allowed into their Mechanical Engineering course (1932) and she went onto receive a Batchelor of science degree in mechanical engineering.

[richardpetervonrahden]

Thank you very much for highlighting Ms Shilling's role. While I had heard of the existence of the "quick fix" for the Merlin carburetor, I had never heard of the engineer responsible. It is really good to have her named.

But I also would have appreciated more information on how her restrictor worked. Further, how much of this was drawn from her motorcycle experience, and where had she come across this problem in that field? That would better illustrate her contribution. A few more facts on her ongoing engineering career would also have better served her. A revised video with some more details would honor her memory better.

I also share the opinion of some othes that the adjective "awful" in the title is unnecessarily sensational. "Flawed" would do fine.

[nickdanger]

For the next important and powerful Merlin 66 engine, Rolls Royce finally decided to use the Bendix–Stromberg Injection carburettor. The American Bendix-Stromberg pressure carburettor was developed in the mid 1930’s and was in production from 1938. This carburettor was designed to operate as a fully pressurised fuel system that dispensed with the problematic float controlled fuel level with its emulsion tubes and diffusers. Negative G had no effect on fuel flow or carburettor function. The pressurised and metered fuel flow was delivered as a spray into the inlet air stream just in front of the supercharger inlet. This feature virtually removed the risk of carburettor icing, in fact the throttles and chokes of the injection carburettor did not need heating by hot oil or coolant circulation at all and their deletion removed several other problems associated with the previous provision of those heating circuits.
ROLLS-ROYCE MERLIN CARBURETTOR DEVELOPMENT page

[ColinMill]

It is worth reading Stanley Hooker's autobiography. In it he talks about the power advantage the use of carburettors gave to the Merlin over the use of fuel injection. This arises because the evaporation of the fuel in the intake tract cools and increases the density of the charge. Later Merlins with injection carburettors continued to have this advantage while overcoming the hesitation issue.

[kettleions]

Can't believe this is the first time I've heard of Mrs Shilling, and around until 1990 ! What a true Star 🌼

[davidpeters]

Me 109's biggest advantage was the cannons. The more experienced pilots did a roll into the dive once the problem was identified and the Spit could out turn the 109. All through the war it was a battle within a battle between the 109 and the Spit. Both engines powered many other planes of the war but the Merlin must take the prize.

[dedowd]

I like to see the drawing of the Tilly Diaphragm as related to the carborator as shown.