How She Saved The Spitfire In WW2

Did you know that if it was not because of the ingenuity of a young female aeronautical engineer, many Spitfire pilots would have died? Here’s how a woman saved the iconic plane during the Second World War:

The Problem

Early in WWII, a year and a half before the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, initial versions of the Spitfire had an alarming flaw. The engine would cut out or stall when doing negative G-maneuvers like a dive or roll.

The Germans quickly spotted this flaw, giving them an edge in dogfights because German planes didn’t have carburetors. Their engines were fuel-injected and thus didn’t suffer from this issue.

Beatrice Schilling

At this point, Britain desperately needed a quick fix. Fortunately, a bright young female engineer named Beatrice Schilling, who worked for the Royal Aircraft Establishment, entered the picture.

Before WWII, she raced motorcycles, was intelligent, and studied to become an aeronautical engineer. When complaints about the Spitfire’s engine cutouts from the pilots led to a concentrated search for a solution, Schilling said she might just have an idea. After all, she spent years racing motorcycles and knew about the intricacies of carburetors.

A Brilliant Idea

Beatrice’s idea was to build a simple design that restricted fuel flow to the carburetor of the Merlin engine. Better yet, it could be installed without taking the plane out of service. When it came to Schilling’s fuel flow restriction device, while it never truly solved the plane’s problem, it allowed British pilots to maintain competitive flight against German fighter pilots.

The young female engineer went from one squadron to another with a team of mechanics installing the simple device. The device became immensely popular with RAF pilots, affectionately becoming known as “Miss Tilly’s Diaphragm” or “Miss Tilly’s Orifice.” After WWII, Beatrice continued to excel in engineering and moved on to racing cars.

The ratio of German pilots losing their lives to British pilots was nearly 2:1. Miss Schilling’s story of innovation fires helped England defeat Germany in the pivotal battle of Britain.