Talk:Tony Rudd
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[edit]Any thoughts? Pete Fenelon (talk) 00:44, 1 March 2008 (UTC)
- Are there any references to his supposed tour of ops in Lancasters? I've just scanned through "It was fun" and it seems he was flat out with Rolls Royce at least until summer of 1944, and he wouldn't have had time from then to get his RAF wings and finish a tour. Could that be referring to Tony Rudd the stockbroker (father of Amber Rudd) instead? He was a navigator on Mosquitoes (not a pilot of Lancs). 121.200.6.190 (talk) 07:03, 30 January 2024 (UTC)
- Agree - I have been reading all sorts of books about BRM, and old Motorsport magazines over the decades and not once was there mention of Rudd being in the RAF, let along a Lancaster pilot with a tour under his belt. His Motorsport obit. doesn't mention it, and as you point out, in "It Was Fun" he was quite busy. Digging through the details and cross-referencing with external events it seems that as late as the summer of 1944 (thus, June '44 onwards) he was still in the Defect Investigation Department. The dust jacket inner sleeve also says "After a watime spent mostly working round the clock on aero-engine service and durability problems ...". His book doesn't cover exactly what he did between then and VE day, but it does specify that he was still working with RR between VE day and VJ day - so it does seem that The Times has it wrong.
- In addition to that, Rudd didn't design the V12 that succeeded the H16; the exact genesis of the plan is unclear, but Rudd reported to Sir Alfred Owen that BRM could make a sports car racing 3 litre V12 for customer sale and when they went forward Geoff Johnson designed it; later Rudd and Johnson designed a bottom end but it's unclear if Matra used their design after Owen was indiscreet about BRM's involvement at a press conference ("It Was Fun", p 250). Thosdot (talk) 00:28, 8 December 2025 (UTC)
- I bit the bullet and removed the WW2 bomber pilot part; it's not born (Bourne) out by any other sources I've been able to find, and it's not possible given the timelines in Rudd's book. Also a minor quote about the expected shortness of his secondment to BRM, and a clarification of the genesis and original purpose of the BRM V12. Thosdot (talk) 00:05, 9 December 2025 (UTC)
Didn't he sing "Machadaynu"? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 213.225.149.5 (talk) 14:57, 10 January 2014 (UTC)