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Ronald Thomas Shepherd
Ronald Thomas Shepherd OBE (1896 – 1 March 1955) was a British aviator and test pilot for Rolls-Royce.[1] He was the first person to fly an aircraft powered by the Rolls-Royce Merlin aero-engine.[1] Early lifeShepherd was born in Kensington, London in 1896[1] the son of Thomas and Agnes Shepherd, his father was a lithographic printer.[2] CareerAt first he was employed by Vickers-Armstrongs in the manufacture of guns but on the outbreak of the First World War he joined the Honourable Artillery Company.[3] Shepherd joined the Royal Flying Corps in 1916 where he flew with 102 Squadron and 37 Squadron.[3] He left the RFC (now the Royal Air Force) in 1918 but re-joined in 1921 and served in England and Egypt until 1929.[3] After a few years as a civilian flying instructor he joined Rolls-Royce in 1931. In 1935 he was appointed chief test pilot.[1] Shepherd was responsible for the first flight of many of the company's aero engines, including the Merlin, Kestrel and Griffon piston engines and the Nene and Avon jet engines.[3] After a serious illness in 1951 he relinquished his chief test pilot role and became an aviation consultant.[1] Although no longer flying full-time, on 3 July 1953, aged 58, he made the first free flight of the unusual Rolls-Royce Thrust Measuring Rig, a pioneering vertical take-off and landing experimental aircraft at Hucknall Aerodrome.[1] He was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 1946 for his work as a test pilot, particularly in the development of the Merlin.[1] He died on 1 March 1955 at his home at Nuthall and was buried in the village's New Farm Lane cemetery.[1] References
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