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Re: A reply for MR O'Driscoll

To: Paul Richardson <Paul-Richardson@cyberware.co.uk>
Subject: Re: A reply for MR O'Driscoll
From: "Kevin O'Driscoll" <ko3@columbia.edu>
Date: Sun, 21 Nov 1999 13:50:30 -0500 (EST)
Well then excuse me ... from your sexist list ...



On Sat, 20 Nov 1999, Paul Richardson wrote:

> Kevin O'Driscoll opines that my WW2 anecdote on the anti G fuel metering
> valve invented by Mrs Tilly Shilling smacks of an 'antiquated attitude.' I
> put it on the FOT list because I thought members would appreciate a unique
> piece of engineering history. It contains unique humour, whilst
> exemplifying the part that a brilliant member of the fair sex played in
> preventing the loss of our pilot's lives. Tilly Shilling also found the
> nickname of her invention by her Rolls colleagues highly amusing - she had
> a keen sense of humour.
> 
> You write, "Obviously Mrs Shilling is now posthumously remembered as the
> engineer who won the Battle of Britain and bested the engineers at Rolls."
> - Due to the general tone of your e-mail this could be interpreted as
> disrespectful, sneering sarcasm. You could also have saved yourself further
> embarrassment by checking your history, because the negative G problem was
> not solved until after the Battle of Britain. Tilly Shilling, besides being
> a brilliant engineer, was also a 'Lady' in the best interpretation of that
> word. As such, she would never have interpreted any of her work as
> bettering the Rolls engineers, who were her close colleagues.
> 
> I find your paragraphs on the vicissitudes and marketing ploys of the
> London motor dealer and the Ford Motor Company on the new DB7 Aston Martin
> have the depth and clarity of a shallow muddy puddle on a foggy day, and
> wonder how you connect a 1999 marketing exercises with a true 60 year old
> engineering story. You say in your last paragraph - to quote you exactly -
> 
> Sincerely
> 
> Paul 
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