Abstract Variable pitch fans (VPFs) can improve the operability of low pressure ratio fan systems by repitching the rotor blades. If a variable pitch fan can generate sufficient reverse thrust on landing, it will also eliminate the need for heavy, cascade-type thrust reversers. However, any reverse thrust generation is impacted by high levels of inlet distortion generated as air is drawn into the exhaust nozzle. This paper uses both Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) computations and low-speed rig experiments to explore how a representative inlet distortion from the engine installation affects the aerodynamics and performance of a variable pitch fan operating in reverse thrust mode. The simulations and the experiments both show that the distortion from the engine installation leads to a highly three-dimensional flow field with a large recirculation region within the bypass duct. This is in contrast to the primarily axial flow that is produced for a case with uniform freestream inlet conditions. The distortion substantially redistributes the mass flow, thrust, and power in the engine. Streamline tracking combined with a power balance analysis reveals that there is highly radial flow within the fan rotor and almost all of the power from the fan is used to drive the recirculating flow in the bypass duct, which generates high loss and has a high total temperature. The recirculation reduces the net mass flow through the engine to around 5% of a uniform inflow case and the effective reverse thrust is greatly reduced. With uniform inflow, the net reverse thrust was found to be 35% of the nominal takeoff thrust. With inlet distortion present, this was reduced to 20%. This demonstrates the importance of designing and operating variable pitch fan systems to minimize the reverse thrust inlet distortion.