Icare9
And you may have also cleared up where the redesign work was done! Hillington did not do main stream engine design, and I don't suppose Manchester did either. So the DO work must have been done at Dagenham where your father worked. The experimental shop in Hillington had a very small drawing office (where I did my roller rocker scheme) but any major work other than jigs and fixtures was done at Derby. The work I did at Hillington got me transferred to Derby in 1956 as an aircraft engine designer on the Conway. A month before I was due to be called up! I got permanent deferment out of that,and I had three happy years on the Conway.
I didn't want to be deferred, but I didn't have an option to refuse. I had applied to join GUAS in my first year at Uni but there were more takers than slots. I did pass all the tests and medicals however, and they gave me a chit which would have got me straight into a three year commission in the GD. I did learn to fly later as a glider pilot, and became an instructor. The RAF's loss maybe? Maybe I got more flying though - 2200 sorties and 1000+hrs in 22 different types. I doubt the RAF could have provided that.
Last edited by Olympia 463; 14th Dec 2017 at 13:37.