Royal Aeronautical Society Podcast

Classic Lecture: A History of Glosters by Hugh Burroughes FRAeS

Glosters specialised in bringing high-speed aircraft to the market, including the Sparrowhawk, Grebe, Gamecock, Gladiator, the E.28/39 which tested Sir Frank Whittle's jet engine and the Meteor which was the first Allied aircraft to enter service powered by a jet.
Co-founder of the company, Hugh Burroughes, gives a personal history of the Gloster Aircraft Company (GAC). Starting with its roots in the Aircraft Manufacturing Company during World War I, Burroughes charts the challenges of developing aircraft during the interwar period. He explores the take-over of the GAC by Hawkers in 1934, gives a manufacturers’ view of the Schneider Trophy Competitions and discusses the role of the company’s interwar designer, H. P. Folland. Burroughes also tells us of his company’s work providing the first aircraft for the jet engine, the E.28/39, together with the Meteor which followed. He concludes by exploring the Javelin programme and its part in the decline of the company after the war. All in all, he emphasises the importance of background and timing in the aircraft industry.
PLEASE NOTE: The end of the lecture was missing from the original recording and a new ending was added in 2021, using Burroughes’ paper published in the 1969 edition of the Aeronautical Journal. RAeS members have free access to Burroughes’ paper via https://www.aerosociety.com/elibrary.
Hugh Burroughes FRAeS addressed a meeting organised by the Royal Aeronautical Society’s Historical Group on 14 December 1964. The lecture is introduced by J. L. Nayler FRAeS FAIAA, the recording was digitised thanks to a grant from the RAeS Foundation and the podcast was edited by Eur Ing Mike Stanberry FRAeS.

Rewind – Is the future unmanned? by Prof Ian Poll FEng FRAeS

What role will unmanned aerial vehicles play in the years ahead? In 2002, Prof Ian Poll took the long view of UAVs, by drawing lessons from such figures as Sir George Cayley, the Wright Brothers and Samuel Langley. Arguing that the UAV is a concept whose time had come, he explored the key issues facing the exploitation of military and civil unmanned flight in 2002, pointed out opportunities and made predictions for the future.
Prof Ian Poll FREng FRAeS gave the Royal Aeronautical Society’s 91st Wilbur & Orville Wright Lecture on 5 December 2002. The lecture was introduced by the then President, Lee Balthazor FRAeS, and the podcast was edited by Eur Ing Mike Stanberry FRAeS.

Classic Lecture - Smith-Barry & the Gosport School of Special Flying 1917-18

Robert Smith-Barry and his Gosport System revolutionised how pilots were trained in the heat of World War I. In this two-handed lecture, Gp. Capt. Tredrey explores the life of Smith-Barry and how he became convinced that the way the Royal Flying Corp trained its pilots was ripe for change.
The story is taken over by C. A. N. Bishop who, as a schoolboy, had a temporary pass for the School’s headquarters whilst Smith-Barry was in command. Bishop explains the key points of the Gosport System, describes the aircraft used including the Avro 504, reviews the work of Gosport’s Experimental Unit and gives a flavour of life at the School and of the characters who taught the new system. The lecture concludes with Gp. Capt. Tredrey telling us about Smith-Barry’s life after he left Gosport.
As with many Royal Aeronautical Society Lectures, the audience contained many of those who had experience of the topic first hand and the lecture concludes with a selection of entertaining stories from those present.
C.A.N. Bishop and Group Captain Tredrey addressed a meeting organised by the Royal Aeronautical Society’s Historical Group on 29 November 1962. The lecture is introduced by J. L. Nayler FRAeS FAIAA, the recording was digitised thanks to a grant from the RAeS Foundation and the podcast was edited by Eur Ing Mike Stanberry FRAeS.

Rewind: My 53 Years as a Flight Simulation User by John Farley OBE AFC

Royal Aircraft Establishment and Harrier Test pilot John Farley first got into a flight simulator in 1958. In this entertaining lecture, he draws on stories throughout his career to share his view on the ways simulators should be used for both research and pilot training and the qualities that make a good simulator. In the context of research, he suggests there are parallels between the raw data produced from simulation and the raw data measured in wind tunnels and why, in his view, there are two types of simulator pilots which researchers need to bear in mind when considering the data they obtain from piloted experiments.
To illustrate his points, Farley draws on stories from the early development of V/STOL simulators, the use of flight simulators at the Empire Test Pilots School and RAE Bedford, including Bedford’s simulations that prepared them for the delivery of Handley Page HP.115 and a memorable experience of flying an A380 simulator at Toulouse.
John Farley gave the Royal Aeronautical Society’s 2011 Edwin A. Link Memorial Lecture, organised by the RAeS Flight Simulation Group, on 8 June 2011. The lecture was introduced by Gordon Woolley FRAeS and the podcast was edited by Eur Ing Mike Stanberry FRAeS.

Rewind: F-35 Lightning II Program update by Brig Gen Charles Davis

In this recording from 2007, the USAF’s Program Executive Officer gives a thorough briefing on the early testing, development and expectations of the international stealth multirole combat aircraft, eight years before it entered operational service.
Brig Gen Charles Davis gave the RAeS Sir James Martin Memorial Lecture on 8 May 2007. The lecture was introduced by the then RAeS President Elect, Capt. David Rowland FRIN FRAeS, and the podcast was edited by Eur Ing Mike Stanberry FRAeS.

Classic Lecture: From Sopwith Aviation to Hawker Siddeley Aviation at Kingston by John Crampton

Hawker Siddeley Aviation executive Sqn Ldr John Crampton takes listeners through the aircraft and designers that made up the fascinating history of aircraft manufacturing at Kingston-upon-Thames. He begins with its origins in Sopwith Aviation and continues with the role of Hawker Siddeley Aviation to 1971, when this lecture was given. The talk includes audio recordings featuring several of the famous names involved, including Bill Humble and Philip Lucas.
The lecture includes discussion of many Sopwith and Hawker types including the Pup, Cygnet, Hart, Typhoon, Hunter and Sea Hawk. The achievements of the firm in air races and aircraft export campaigns are also portrayed, culminating in the story of the Harrier which proved so successful in both.
Sqn Ldr Crampton gave his lecture to a meeting organised by the Royal Aeronautical Society’s Historical Group on 19 January 1971. The recording was digitised thanks to a grant from the RAeS Foundation and the podcast was edited by Eur Ing Mike Stanberry FRAeS.

Rewind - Aviation Medicine Research: An Unending Adventure by Dr Charles Billings MS MD FRAeS

Perhaps best known as the architect of the NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (ASRS), which pioneered the use of confidential incident reporting, Charles E. Billings had an entertaining and inspiring career in aviation medicine. Taking the story of his career ‘as he lived it’, Dr Billings tells his audience his path from music college to aviation medicine, his service as a flight surgeon in the US Air Force, his work as an academic and at NASA’s Ames Research Center. Throughout his career he worked on a wide range of pioneering projects including studies on suddenly placing people into high altitude conditions, how the human body responds to endurance flying, how increasing amounts of automation effects safety and a project that tested the effects of alcohol on pilots. He also tells us how the ASRS system was created and the wide-ranging effects the project has had, both in improving aviation safety and further afield.
Dr Billings finishes his lecture with some wise words for those who follow him into aviation medicine, including the importance of always learning new things and that ‘retirement can be very dangerous to your health.’ The lecture concludes with a vote of thanks from AVM John Ernsting FRAeS.
Dr Charles Billings MS MD FRAeS gave the RAeS Stewart Memorial Lecture on 17 March 2009. The podcast was edited by Eur Ing Mike Stanberry FRAeS.

Rewind - Aviation Journalism by Major Oliver Stewart

This warts and all view into the world of aviation journalism in the early 1960s was given in an era when a new form of aero magazine was replacing the old. With forty years in journalism and twenty as editor of Aeronautics behind him, Major Stewart explores the constraints on journalists, whether from D-notices, the language dictated by style sheets, the spokesmen or the new breed of owners and managers in the industry. He also looks at the three areas of aviation journalism in the period: the national newspapers, the specialist press and the free magazines, before looking into his crystal ball to predict where the industry was likely to go. In the last part of his lecture, Major Stewart highlights some of his favourite stories from years gone by.
Major Oliver Stewart addressed a meeting organised by the Royal Aeronautical Society’s Historical Group on 19 March 1962. The lecture is introduced by J. L. Nayler FRAeS FAIAA, the recording was digitised thanks to a grant from the RAeS Foundation and the podcast was edited by Eur Ing Mike Stanberry FRAeS.

Rewind: Gagarin’s achievement, the view from the press box by Reg Turnill

As BBC’s Aviation & Space Correspondent throughout the 1960s, Reg Turnill witnessed the achievements of Gagarin and his contemporaries from the press box. In his paper, he shares his memories of covering Gagarin and Alan Shepard’s flights into space from the contrasting atmospheres at Moscow and Cape Canaveral. He also explores the differing selection processes for the first cosmonaut and first astronaut and shares the challenges of writing about the Soviet side of the space race.
The recording also includes a discussion of Gagarin’s legacy that between Pat Norris, Douglas Barrie, Dr Jeremy Curtis, Reg Turnill and Gerry Webb, together with questions from the audience.
Reg Turnill presented his paper to the RAeS Space Group Conference, Yuri Gagarin’s legacy, 50 years on: securing the vision for the next half century. The event was held on 16 March 2011, the session was chaired by Pat Norris FRAeS & Dr John Hobbs and the podcast was edited by Eur Ing Mike Stanberry FRAeS.

Rewind: An Exchange of Visions: Commonality in Russian and British Space Thinking by Mark Hempsell

Garagin's flight was a triumph for the team of engineers led by Korolyov that produced both the R7 launcher and the Vostok spacecraft. In this paper, Mark Hempsell examines the culture of the Russian space industry and argues that it was dominated by a pre-war vision of astronautics, whereas in the United States and Europe space was seen more as an adjunct to the aeronautical industry. The only other nation with a similar outlook to Space, he argues, is the United Kingdom although the history of how this happened was very different.
Mark Hempsell presented his paper to the RAeS Space Group Conference, Yuri Gagarin’s legacy, 50 years on: securing the vision for the next half century. The event was held on 16 March 2011, the session was chaired by Dr John Hobbs and the podcast was edited by Eur Ing Mike Stanberry FRAeS.