Alfred Cyril Lovesey

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

, AFRAeS, was an English

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, build, maintain and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials. They aim to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while ...

who was a key figure in the development of the

Rolls-Royce Merlin The Rolls-Royce Merlin is a British Coolant#Liquids, liquid-cooled V12 engine, V-12 Reciprocating engine, piston aero engine of 27-litre (1,650 cu in) Engine displacement, capacity. Rolls-Royce Limited, Rolls-Royce designed the engine an ...

aero engine An aircraft engine, often referred to as an aero engine, is the power component of an aircraft propulsion system. Aircraft using power components are referred to as powered flight. Most aircraft engines are either piston engines or gas turbin ...

Early life

Lovesey was born 15 July 1899 in Hereford the son of Alfred and Jessie Lovesey. 1901 Census RG13/2481 Folio 99 Page 5 Hereford In the 1901 Census Lovesey, aged 1 is living with his parents at 3, Greenfield Villas, Portfields, Hereford. He went to Broomy Hill Academy and the

grammar school A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a Latin school, school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented Se ...

Hereford High School for Boys (became

Aylestone Business and Enterprise College Aylestone School is a co-educational secondary school in Herefordshire, England. The school has an enrolment of 419, and caters for the Key Stage 3 and Key Stage 4 education of students aged 11–16. History The school was established as the ...

). Lovesey attended

Bristol University The University of Bristol is a public research university in Bristol, England. It received its royal charter in 1909, although it can trace its roots to a Merchant Venturers' school founded in 1595 and University College, Bristol, which had ...

leaving in 1923 with a BSc.

Career

Cyril Lovesey joined the 'Rolls-Royce Experimental Department' in 1923, came under the direction of

Ernest Hives Ernest Walter Hives, 1st Baron Hives (21 April 1886 – 24 April 1965), was the one-time head of the Rolls-Royce Aero Engine division and chairman of Rolls-Royce Ltd. Hives was born in Reading, Berkshire to John and Mary Hives, living at 31 C ...

and worked on both motor cars and aero engines. He was the company representative for support of the

Rolls-Royce R The Rolls-Royce R is a British Aircraft engine, aero engine that was designed and built specifically for air racing purposes by Rolls-Royce Limited. Nineteen R engines were assembled in a limited production run between 1929 and 1931. Developed ...

engine during its trials at

Calshot Calshot is a coastal village in Hampshire, England, at the west corner of Southampton Water where it joins the Solent.OS Explorer Map, New Forest, Scale: 1:25 000.Publisher: Ordnance Survey B4 edition (2013). History In 1539, Henry VIII ord ...

for the

Schneider Trophy The Coupe d'Aviation Maritime Jacques Schneider, also known as the Schneider Trophy, Schneider Prize or (incorrectly) the Schneider Cup is a trophy that was awarded first annually, and later biennially, to the winner of a race for seaplanes and ...

races in 1929 and 1931. Lovesey was a proponent of flight testing and established a centre at

RAF Hucknall Hucknall Aerodrome was a former general aviation and RAF aerodrome located north north-west of Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England, and west of Hucknall town. The aerodrome had been operated by the Merlin Flying Club since 1971 and then by ...

where he was flight development engineer. His services were also used by

Malcolm Campbell Major Sir Malcolm Campbell (11 March 1885 – 31 December 1948) was a British racing motorist and motoring journalist. He gained the world speed record on land and on water at various times, using vehicles called ''Blue Bird'', including a 1 ...

during his

Bluebird The bluebirds are a North American group of medium-sized, mostly insectivorous or omnivorous passerine birds in the genus ''Sialia'' of the thrush family (Turdidae). Bluebirds are one of the few thrush genera in the Americas. Bluebirds lay an ...

land speed record attempts. In 1930 Lovesey was awarded Aviators Certificate No. 9350 by the Royal Aero Club. In the late 1930s Lovesey (who had become known as 'Lov' in company shorthand) began working with others on developing the new

and just prior to the start of the

Battle of Britain The Battle of Britain () was a military campaign of the Second World War, in which the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) of the Royal Navy defended the United Kingdom (UK) against large-scale attacks by Nazi Germany's air force ...

was placed in charge of the development programme. His contribution to the Merlin, doubling its power output and improving reliability at the same time, was a major achievement. Post-war, Lovesey adapted the Merlin for civil use and then turned to

turbojet The turbojet is an airbreathing jet engine which is typically used in aircraft. It consists of a gas turbine with a propelling nozzle. The gas turbine has an air inlet which includes inlet guide vanes, a compressor, a combustion chamber, and ...

development with work on the

Rolls-Royce Avon The Rolls-Royce Avon was the first axial flow jet engine designed and produced by Rolls-Royce. Introduced in 1950, the engine went on to become one of their most successful post-World War II engine designs. It was used in a wide variety of ai ...

. In 1957 Lovesey became 'Chief Engineer (Aircraft Engines)' then deputy director of engineering and a member of the Aero Engine Division board of directors. He retired in 1964 but was later recalled along with Arthur Rubbra and

Stanley Hooker Sir Stanley George Hooker, CBE, FRS, DPhil, BSc, FRAeS, MIMechE, FAAAS (30 September 1907 – 24 May 1984), was an English mathematician and jet engine engineer. He was employed first at Rolls-Royce where he worked on the earliest design ...

to assist with development problems concerning the

Rolls-Royce RB211 The Rolls-Royce RB211 is a British family of high-bypass turbofan engines made by Rolls-Royce Holdings, Rolls-Royce. The engines are capable of generating of thrust. The RB211 engine was the first production turbofan#Three-spool, three-spool e ...

turbofan A turbofan or fanjet is a type of airbreathing jet engine that is widely used in aircraft engine, aircraft propulsion. The word "turbofan" is a combination of references to the preceding generation engine technology of the turbojet and the add ...

engine. Lovesey died in 1976.

Honours and awards

* 9 January 1946 - Alfred Cyril Lovesey, Esq., AFRAeS, Development Engineer, Rolls-Royce Ltd is appointed an Officer of the Order the British Empire (OBE). * 11 June 1966 - Alfred Cyril Lovesey, Esq., OBE, Deputy Director of Engineering, Rolls-Royce Ltd is appointed a Commander of the Order the British Empire (CBE).

References

Notes

Bibliography

*Lumsden, Alec. ''British Piston Engines and their Aircraft''. Marlborough, Wiltshire: Airlife Publishing, 2003. . * Pugh, Peter. ''The Magic of a Name - The Rolls-Royce Story - The First 40 Years''. Cambridge, England. Icon Books Ltd, 2000.

External links

Flightglobalarchive - Gas turbine development by Cyril Lovesey, ''Flight'', 6 April 1950''Development of the Rolls-Royce Merlin from 1939 to 1945''
- a 1945 lecture by Lovesey in PDF form {{DEFAULTSORT:Lovesey, Cyril 1899 births 1976 deaths Commanders of the Order of the British Empire English aerospace engineers English aviators Fellows of the Royal Aeronautical Society Rolls-Royce people People from Hereford People educated at Hereford High School for Boys Alumni of the University of Bristol