Female riders have played an important role in history. Here's
an example, explained to me by a fellow who was there to see it
firsthand:
During World War two in the Battle of Britain, the RAF discovered
a major problem with the Spitfire-- if the pilot pushed the nose down
hard and created negative G's, the engine would splutter badly, and in
some cases completely stall out. This was a BIG problem, and needed to
be solved immediately.
It turned out that the engineer at that time responsible for fuel
systems in aircraft was a woman named Beatrice Shilling. She realized
that because the carburretted design relied on gravity to correctly control
fuel flow to the engine, there had to be a better way to control fuel flow
to solve the problem. She understood the problem well because she was also a
motorcyclist, and was very familiar with how the float valve is supposed to
work in a carbuerator.
She immediately set about solving the problem by designing a restrictor
plate to stop the engine from flooding, which was indeed the cause of the
problem. My friend said it was a sight to behold as she came up to one
mechanic's depot after another on her motorcycle, dressed in leathers,
and began to teach them how to retrofit the Spitfires and save England.
Female riders have made very important contributions to progress and
freedom in the world.
|