In engineering, quantity production is possible only with fine, repeatable measurements. Starting from a problem in aerospace, David McMurtry, who has died aged 84, did much to advance the scientific study of measurement – metrology – and so facilitated hi-tech mass production in many fields.
While working for Rolls-Royce in 1972 at its Filton factory, near Bristol, on the Olympus engines used in the Concorde supersonic airliner, McMurtry became frustrated with the foibles of the existing coordinate measuring machines (CMMs). One morning he arrived at work with a home-modified measuring probe that could cope with the complex task of properly measuring the twisting aerofoils of the Olympus fan blades – data needed to ensure that engine reached the required performance.
