Adrian Lombard

Lombard was taught at the John Gulson Central Advanced School, and later attended evening classes at the Coventry Technical College.

His designs during this period incorporated a new combustion system and were the precursor to the later successful Rolls-Royce Derwent and Nene engines, which powered most of the first generation of British jet fighters.

Lombard became the director of the Rolls-Royce aeronautical engine division in 1958,[1] and was responsible for overseeing the production of all the company's jet turbines.

[5] In November 1962, Lombard visited Japan to meet with several companies that had expressed an interest in Rolls-Royce's vertical take-off (VTOL) aircraft engines.

In his presentation, Lombard indicated that the chosen subject was a "very topical one both because of the very advanced technology required for the design and manufacture of aero engines and of the interest which has recently centred on the aircraft industry in this country and the controversy on its future".

Among the controversial issues highlighted by Lombard and centering on the aircraft industry was the Duncan Sandys 1957 Defence White paper.

Following on from the erroneous 1957 White paper and hard on its heels was the Labour government inspired Plowden enquiry that Lombard criticised for causing long term uncertainty for the UK aviation industry.

[10] Lombard's death had unfortunate consequences for Rolls-Royce when it came to the initial design of the early RB211, which suffered performance problems, the cost of solving-which, ultimately were to lead to the company going into receivership in 1971.

"It was all too obvious that the Derby engineers, normally proud and self-confident to the point of arrogance, had slid from bad to worse when their great leader, Lombard, had been so suddenly plucked from them in 1967, his death had left a vacuum which nobody could fill ..." - Stanley Hooker[5]Lombard's place at Rolls-Royce was eventually to be filled by former Rolls-Royce and Bristol Siddeley engineer Stanley Hooker, who had by then retired, and under his leadership, assisted by fellow Rolls-Royce ex-retirees Arthur Rubbra and Cyril Lovesey, the RB211 went on to become a most successful design.