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Prof. Geoffrey Lilley

Discussion in 'WWII Obituaries' started by GRW, Oct 5, 2015.

  1. GRW

    GRW Pillboxologist WW2|ORG Editor

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    "Professor Geoffrey Lilley, who has died aged 95, was a leading aeronautical scientist who worked with Barnes Wallis, the inventor of the bouncing bomb, became an expert on aircraft noise suppression, persuaded the Americans to accept Concorde, and later investigated the implications for aircraft design of the silent wing flapping of the owl.
    Lilley was one of the fathers of a new field of research that became known as Aeroacoustics – a subject vital to the reduction of noise in jet engines. Together with Bob Westley he carried out the first experiments on jet noise that provided early confirmation of the “eighth power law” of Sir James Lighthill, which states that the acoustic power of a jet engine is proportional to the eighth power of the jet speed. Lilley later made a crucial extension to the theory with what is now known as Lilley’s equation, showing how propagation of sound can be separated from its sources. He also published pioneering studies of sonic boom .
    Lilley’s greatest practical contribution to aviation was made as leader of the Concorde technical team which persuaded the Port Authority of New York that the new Anglo-French supersonic aircraft could meet strict US noise restrictions. The cancellation, in 1971, of the American supersonic Boeing 2707 had bruised many egos and in 1976 the US Congress banned Concorde landings, citing concern over sonic booms. Lilley and his team were given the job of countering US technical objections line by line and succeeded in persuading the Americans to back down. Had they failed, Concorde would have been scrapped.
    The youngest of four children, Geoffrey Michael Lilley was born at Isleworth on November 16 1919. His father, Micholl Morland Dessau, was a wealthy American inventor who lost his fortune during the depression and left the family shortly afterwards. Lilley was Geoffrey’s mother’s maiden name.
    After leaving Isleworth Grammar School aged 15, Lilley joined the RAF, but his hopes of training as a pilot were thwarted by poor eyesight and instead he took a general engineering apprenticeship with Kodak. He soon showed practical flair by designing and installing a sophisticated air conditioning system which enabled the company to store and process the RAF’s vast library of high quality reconnaissance film in the war against Germany.
    From Kodak, Lilley joined Vickers at Weybridge where he worked, briefly, with Barnes Wallis. He remained with the company throughout the war, during which he also served in the Home Guard and completed a BSc and then an MSc at night school."
    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/11912481/Professor-Geoffrey-Lilley-aeronautical-scientist-obituary.html
     

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