In 1940 Lilley joined
Vickers-Armstrong at
Weybridge and Supermarine in
Southampton, where he worked briefly with Sir
Barnes Wallace. His work covered both aircraft design and high-speed bombs. During the War period he served during his time off working with the
Home Guard in London and studied for a BSc by evening classes. He was awarded MSc from
Imperial College London in 1945. After the war he worked on the design of wind tunnels for commercial research, one of which remains in use by
British Aerospace. Lilley helped found the
College of Aeronautics in Cranfield in 1946 and his work on aircraft research led to him being appointed
Professor of Experimental Fluid Mechanics in 1961. In 1963, Lilley was appointed
Professor of Aerodynamics and Astronautics at
Southampton University. Lilley was appointed OBE in 1981 for services to government. In 1983 he received the Gold Medal of the
Royal Aeronautical Society, and the Aeroacoustic Medal of the
American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. After his retirement in 1983, he continued to accept visiting professorships, and worked for
NASA at the Institute for Computer Applications in Science and Engineering. ==References==