About the Show
Beatrice Shilling was a pioneering engineer in Britain’s race to dominate the skies at the start of WWII. Obsessed with speed, she raced motorbikes and gained an MSc in Electrical Engineering, marking her out as an unusual woman from the start. Working at RAE, she invented the solution to the fatal design flaw that caused the deaths of British pilots when their Spitfires lost engine power and spiralled out of control during dogfights with the Luftwaffe. Her simple gadget was cheekily known as ?’Miss Shilling’s Orifice’. This small object was fitted to the Merlin engine, allowing the Spitfire to engage on equal terms with German planes thereby helping the RAF to gain dominance in the crucial aerial conflicts of the war. Tilly and The Spitfires aims to tell the story of Tilly’s groundbreaking discovery, of her intimate relationship with her friend Muriel Shepherd, and her frequent clashes with those in authority as she strives to make her voice heard in a war run by men.
Part of the Make It So Season at NST
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