Royal Aeronautical Society Podcast

Rewind: The Space Flight of Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin by Nick Spall

60 years ago, 27-year-old Russian cosmonaut Yuri Alexeivich Gagarin was strapped into a Vostok capsule and launched 188 miles out into space. On a spring morning at 06.07 am UT on April 12th 1961, ascending slowly from a Baikonur cosmodrome launch-pad set in the Kazakhstan steppes, he was to make history. Gagarin became the first ever human being to leave the Earth's surface and experience a new environment in the zero-gravity of the cosmos. He completed what was very nearly a full orbit of the Earth and travelled at almost 18,000 mph, moving around the planet at an extraordinary 5 miles a second.
Nick Spall tells the intriguing story of the human and technological achievements of Yuri Gagarin’s historic flight.
Nick Spall 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 and the podcast was edited by Eur Ing Mike Stanberry FRAeS.

Rewind: I’m not that interested in space! How Gagarin took John Kennedy where he did not want to go

Six weeks after Gagarin’s space flight, President John Kennedy proclaimed: 'I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the Earth.' That proclamation has earned Kennedy praise as a space visionary, though in private Kennedy confessed that he was 'not very interested in space'.
Prof DeGroot explores how and why the reluctant space policies of the Eisenhower and Kennedy administrations were replaced by a new space paradigm which measured the virility of a nation by its ability to land a man on the moon.
Prof Gerard DeGroot 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 and the podcast was edited by Eur Ing Mike Stanberry FRAeS.

From the Archive – Mervyn O’Gorman on the Royal Aircraft Factory, 1909-16

The real basis for scientific advance in British aviation was created by Mervyn O’Gorman whilst he was in charge of Farnborough’s Royal Aircraft Factory, the forerunner to the Royal Aircraft Establishment. In this archive recording, O’Gorman explains how he brought in a number of bright young researchers to develop both the science of aeronautics and many of the key aircraft types that served during the First World War.
This podcast was edited by Eur Ing Mike Stanberry FRAeS and it was digitised thanks to a grant from the Royal Aeronautical Society Foundation.

From the Archive – L.H.T. Ashburner on learning to fly with the RFC and serving with the ATA

After seeing his first aircraft flying above his school in around 1910, Ashburner knew where he wanted to be. In this archive recording, we hear of how Ashburner learnt to fly in the Royal Flying Corp during the First World War and stories of his time as a club flyer in the 1930s. Ashburner goes on to paint a picture of civil aviation on the eve of the Second World War from his seat in Air Traffic Control first at Croydon and then at Heston Airport.
World War II gave Ashburner the chance to become a full-time pilot once more, this time as a ferry pilot with the Air Transport Auxiliary. Ashburner describes the aircraft he flew during the war and retells some of the stories from that period of his career.
PLEASE NOTE: We apologise for the poor quality of this archive recording.
The recording was made at the Royal Aeronautical Society on 6 December 1971, the podcast was edited by Eur Ing Mike Stanberry FRAeS and it was digitised thanks to a grant from the Royal Aeronautical Society Foundation.

Rewind: The final frontier – training technology vs pilot performance by Capt. Steve Billett FRAeS

For decades we have been told that each generation of aircraft has become safer and safer, though we have not been able to reach the ‘final frontier’ and eliminate air accidents. Capt. Billett draws on his experience as a trainer to explore the relationship between pilot performance and the reliance on training technology and questions whether, in our drive to enhance and improve the technologies we employ, we lost our battle to control pilot behaviour.
Capt. Steve Billett FRAeS gave the RAeS Flight Simulation Group’s Ray Jones Memorial Lecture on 26 September 2012. The lecture was chaired by Mark Dransfield FRAeS and the podcast was edited by Eur Ing Mike Stanberry FRAeS.

Classic Lecture - Lanchester’s contributions to aeronautics by Dr Theodore von Kármán HonFRAeS

Frederick Lanchester HonFRAeS gave his contemporaries valuable insights into the fundamentals of flight. In the first RAeS Lanchester Lecture from 1957, one of the biggest names in twentieth century aeronautics, Theodore von Kármán, explores Lanchester’s work on aerodynamics and flight mechanics and explains the importance of Lanchester’s classic 1897 paper and 1907 book, Aerodynamics. He also looks at Lanchester’s predictions on the future of civil aviation and his work on aircraft in warfare.
Dr von Kármán met Lanchester a number of times and he uses his first-hand knowledge to explore the relationship that Lanchester built with his teacher, Ludwig Prantl, and recounts the story of when he was taken out for a drive by Lanchester during 1911.
Dr von Kármán’s Aeronautical Journal paper on Lanchester can be read via the Aeronautical Journal Archive and for free for RAeS members via the RAeS website.
Theodore von Kármán HonFRAeS gave the Royal Aeronautical Society’s 1st Lanchester Memorial Lecture on 9 May 1957. The lecture was introduced by the then President, Sir George Edwards HonFRAeS, the vote of thanks was proposed by Dr E. S. Moult HonFRAeS and seconded by Prof A. D. Baxter FRAeS, the recording was digitised thanks to a grant from the RAeS Foundation and the podcast was edited by Eur Ing Mike Stanberry FRAeS.

Rewind: Croydon Aerodrome in the early 1920s by C. V. Lane

Join C. V. Lane who, with the aid of his scrapbooks, takes us on a tour of London’s main aerodrome during the early days of British civil aviation. Drawing on memories from working at the aerodrome during the period, Croydon Aerodrome’s unofficial historian also talks about the early days of air traffic control, explores the research undertaken by Marconi and reminisces about the people and the aircraft who flew in and out of that part of South London.
C. V. Lane addressed a meeting organised by the Royal Aeronautical Society’s Historical Group on 17 October 1966. 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 - 1st Link Lecture: The Role of Simulation in the Defence Environment by Sir Jock Stirrup

“Edwin Link’s legacy is immense and today it is hard to imagine a time when simulation was not an integral part of training”. The then Chief of the Defence Staff, ACM Sir Jock Stirrip, started the Royal Aeronautical Society’s inaugural Edwin Link Named Lecture by telling the story of Edwin Link: the man who created the first flight simulator and then championed the technology before, during and after the Second World War.
Sir Jock’s main theme was exploring how simulation was aiding the armed services in the first decade of the twenty-first century. He takes us through how the Royal Air Force was harnessing flight simulation, with projects including the Medium Support Helicopter Aircrew Training Facility at RAF Benson and the Mission Training through Distributed Simulation (MTDS) project at RAF Waddington. Sir Jock also explores how the Royal Navy used simulation, including at the Maritime Warfare School at Portsmouth, and the British Army’s use of simulators for training soldiers who worked with tanks and those charged with disarming Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs).
Sir Jock also looks to the future, where he hoped that the technology would continue to blur the boundaries between simulation and reality. He predicted that commanders would be able to see the environment, be able to hone in on an area of interest and be able to see the predicted results before real troops were committed. In effect, there would be “a fusing of the synthetic and real worlds”.
Sir Jock Stirrup gave the Inaugural Edwin Link Named Lecture to the Royal Aeronautical Society’s Flight Simulation Group on 7 November 2007. The material and information contained in this lecture are UK Ministry of Defence © Crown copyright 2007 and the recording is the copyright of the Royal Aeronautical Society 2007. The podcast was edited by Eur Ing Mike Stanberry FRAeS.

Classic Lecture - The History of Parachutes by S. B. Jackson FRAeS

It took little over a decade following the invention of the hot air balloon for André-Jacques Garnerin to make the first parachute jump from a balloon and, in this lecture, S. B. Jackson takes us through the evolution of the parachute over the next 150 years. After a brief look at the pre-ballooning concepts, Jackson examines the pre-1903 designs of Garnerin, Robert Cocking, John Hampton and others.
Jackson then moves the story into the twentieth century where, after an initial reluctance to use parachutes in the early days of powered flight, the aeroplane became the raison d'être for the parachute. Here he explores the reasons behind the initial reluctance to use parachutes, the creation of the industry around the American Leslie Irvin, the work of the Royal Aircraft Establishment to move the science of parachutes forward during the interwar period and the development of parachutes for uses other than safety, which became increasingly important during World War II. As well as looking at the design and history of the parachute itself, Jackson also explores the development of the pack and harness, together with the fabric used for parachutes.
S. B. Jackson addressed a meeting organised by the Royal Aeronautical Society’s Historical Group on 26 October 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.

From the archive: Capt. L. J. Brain on flying for Qantas between the Wars

Captain Lester Brain joined Qantas in 1924, in an era when passengers flew in surplus World War I aircraft with an open cockpit. He takes us through the first thirty years of his flying career, reminiscing about the early years of flying over the outback, discusses undertaking rescue missions in an era without radios and then explains the importance of civil aviation to Australia during World War II.
Captain Brain appeared in ABC’s “Armchair Chats” series, broadcast on 3 October 1954. The podcast was released courtesy of Australian Broadcasting Corporation Library Sales, it was edited by Eur Ing Mike Stanberry FRAeS and it was digitised thanks to a grant from the Royal Aeronautical Society Foundation.