Royal Aeronautical Society Podcast

RAeS Team Tempest Roundtable Podcast

Richard Berthon, UK Director of Combat Air, Herman Claesen, FCAS Managing Director, BAE Systems and Air Cdre Jonny Moreton, UK Programme Director, Future Combat Air Acquisition Programme, UK discuss the highlights from a recent Royal Aeronautical Society roundtable on the FCAS/Team Tempest future fighter project.

Rewind: Rotary Wing Aspects of Air Power in Land Operations by Rear-Adm Tony Johnstone-Burt FRAeS

What were the future challenges facing the armed forces and the Joint Helicopter Command in particular? How could the defence industry help to create a more effective battlefield helicopter capability? In order to help answer these two questions, Rear-Adm Johnstone-Burt explores the strengths of rotorcraft and the Joint Service approach and the strategic challenges that the Joint Helicopter Command and the UK’s armed forces more broadly faced, including those brought about by the use of social media.
At the end of his lecture Rear-Adm Johnstone-Burt invites his audience to tell him how industry can help the armed forces to use new technology to best face these new challenges. The post-lecture discussion takes up this challenge by exploring MOD procurement and the aircraft industry. There is also discussion over other challenges faced by those who managed rotorcraft operations in British armed forces.
Rear-Adm Tony Johnstone-Burt FRAeS addressed a meeting of the Royal Aeronautical Society’s Air Power Group on 18 June 2009. The material and information contained in this lecture are UK Ministry of Defence © Crown copyright 2009 and the recording is the copyright of the Royal Aeronautical Society 2009. The podcast was edited by Eur Ing Mike Stanberry FRAeS.

Rewind - Charles A Lindbergh: a pioneer remembered by John Grierson

Lindbergh undertook one of the most remarkable flights in history. John Grierson takes us through every step of the epic flight which led Lindbergh to become the first man to fly the Atlantic single-handed. Grierson, an old friend of Lindbergh’s, also paints a portrait of the man, both before and after his epic flight, exploring his reluctance for the USA to enter the war, his polar flights and his interest in wildlife conservation.
The recording includes a second tribute to Lindbergh, this time from Sir Peter Masefield, who argues that Lindbergh’s achievement was a turning point for aviation.
John Grierson gave the Inaugural Lindbergh Memorial Lecture on 21 May 1975. The recording was digitised thanks to a grant from the RAeS Foundation and the podcast was edited by Eur Ing Mike Stanberry FRAeS.

Classic Lecture - F-35 flight testing by Wg Cdr Jim Schofield FRAeS

The RAF’s F-35 Lightning II Requirements Manager and former project test pilot, Wg Cdr Jim Schofield FRAeS, starts his lecture by exploring how the F-35 would meet some of the UK’s defence needs up to 2050 and discusses the aircraft’s capabilities and many of its systems. He then describes his 2009 to 2012 tour as the MOD’s flight test pilot in the United States, including taking us through some of his test flights, including those trials at sea and at night. He concludes by telling us about the lessons he learnt during this fascinating part of his career.
The audience were also shown four films illustrating actual and potential systems on the aircraft and aspects of the flight test programme. These can be viewed at https://www.aerosociety.com/news/audio-classic-lecture-f-35-flight-testing-by-wg-cdr-jim-schofield-fraes/.
Wg Cdr Jim Schofield FRAeS addressed a meeting of the Royal Aeronautical Society’s Flight Test Group on 17 March 2014.
The material and information contained in this lecture are UK Ministry of Defence © Crown copyright 2014 and the recording is the copyright of the Royal Aeronautical Society 2014. The podcast was edited by Eur Ing Mike Stanberry FRAeS.

Farnborough Air Show 2022 AEROSPACE wrap-up podcast

Tim Robinson, Steven Bridgewater & Bella Richards review their highlights from their week at the 2022 Farnborough Air Show.

Classic Lecture: Conquering the Atlantic : Alcock & Brown by Peter Elliott & David Broughton

Soon after the end of the First World War, Britain’s aircraft manufacturers’ minds were drawn back to a £10,000 prize for the first to fly an aeroplane across the Atlantic Ocean. Join Peter Elliott & David Broughton as they take us into the Vickers Vimy cockpits with pilot John Alcock and navigator Arthur Whitten Brown as they race to be the first to leave Newfoundland, fly and navigate across nearly two thousand miles of sea and finally set foot on European soil.
Peter Elliott & David Broughton addressed a joint seminar of the Royal Aeronautical Society’s Historical Group & the Royal Institute of Navigation on 6 July 2009. The podcast was edited by Eur Ing Mike Stanberry FRAeS.

Classic Lecture – The history of polar aviation by John Grierson

The first man to successfully fly over the Greenland ice cap chronicles how he, together with other figures such as Charles Lindbergh and Edward Byrd, used balloons, airships and aeroplanes to fly over the world’s great wildernesses and, in so doing, lay the path for air service routes across the roof of the world.
John Grierson lectured to the Royal Aeronautical Society’s Prestwick Branch on 12 March 1964. The recording was digitised thanks to a grant from the RAeS Foundation and the podcast was edited by Eur Ing Mike Stanberry FRAeS.

Classic Lecture: Farnborough 1945 : Farewell to the Luftwaffe - pointers to the future

In late 1945 the Royal Aircraft Establishment hosted displays of German and British aircraft and equipment. It was the first opportunity that many people had to see - in detail and up close - a wide range of aircraft that until recently had been either closely guarded, such as the Spiteful and Martin Baker MB 5, or cause for alarm, such as the Dornier Do 335 and Messerschmitt Me 262. German missiles as well as German and British jet engines were also shown, giving a fascinating glimpse of what might be to come.
Amongst the crowds was a young Mike Bowyer and, nearly seventy years later and after a career as an aviation historian and journalist, he conjurers up the two days he spent exploring the all corners of the exhibition and tells us about the amazing aircraft he encountered.
Michael J. F. Bowyer addressed a meeting of the Royal Aeronautical Society’s Historical Group on 17 November 2014 and the podcast was edited by Eur Ing Mike Stanberry FRAeS.

Classic Lecture: Getting the first man on the moon – a view from 1965 by Col. John Glenn

How was the USA’s quest to get the first man on the moon going halfway between JFK’s pledge and Neil Armstrong’s first giant step? Colonel John Glenn, the first American to orbit the earth, reviews NASA’s achievements before giving us a stage-by-stage view of how NASA was planning to get an astronaut to the moon and back.
The lecture concludes with a fascinating question and answer session. A longer version of this recording, which includes Glenn talking through a range of images from the Space Programme, can be found on the RAeS website.
Colonel John Glenn addressed the Royal Aeronautical Society on 8 October 1965. The recording was digitised thanks to a grant from the RAeS Foundation and the podcast was edited by Eur Ing Mike Stanberry FRAeS.

Classic Lecture: Cody – the hero? By Peter Reese AMRAeS

An American showman turned aviator, Samuel Franklin Cody used his imagination, endless courage and engineering virtuosity to become the first man in Britain to fly in an aircraft of his own making. But can he rightly take a place amongst the world’s heroes?
In this lecture, historian Peter Reese tells the story of how a man moved from performing a Wild West Show to becoming an aeronautical pioneer by building and flying some of the earliest man-carrying kites and aeroplane, before showing how, once the War Office declared against constructing aeroplanes in favour of airships, he raced his own aeroplanes and outflew his contemporaries.
Peter Reese addressed the National Aerospace Library’s volunteers on 29 November 2021 and the podcast was edited by Eur Ing Mike Stanberry FRAeS.