Royal Aeronautical Society Podcast

Classic Lecture – Martin-Baker : Much More Than Ejector Seats by Brian A Miller OBE FRAeS

Aircraft designers turned world leaders in the design and manufacture of ejection and crashworthy seats, Martin-Baker has had a fascinating history. Life-long Martin-Baker man, Brian Miller, takes us through some stories from the company, including tales of its founder Sir James Martin, a ‘God-given natural engineer’, and the firm’s interwar fighter and light aircraft concepts. Later in the lecture, Miller goes on to discuss their work for NASA and ESA on lander systems.
Of course, Martin-Baker is world famous for one thing, and ‘ejector seat man’ Brian Miller was not able to resist dedicating the last half of his lecture to telling his audience how the firm diversified into aircraft safety. As well as explaining how the technology changed over time, he discusses working with other aircraft firms and armed services, how they cracked the US market and discusses the programmes that he and his colleagues have worked on, including for the V-bombers, TSR2, the F-35 and various helicopters.
Brian A Miller OBE FRAeS addressed a meeting organised by the Royal Aeronautical Society’s Historical Group on 3 November 2009. The lecture is introduced by Dr Kit Mitchell FRAeS and the recording was edited by Eur Ing Mike Stanberry FRAeS.

Classic Lecture – The History of Miles Aircraft by D. L. Brown FRAeS

This entertaining lecture on the enterprising Miles Aircraft company takes the listener on Miles’ journey from giving flying lessons on an Avro 504k during the 1920s to developing the M.52, the cancelled research aircraft that could have made Britain the first country to fly at supersonic speeds. The majority of Battle of Britain pilots trained on Miles' advanced trainer aircraft, the Master. The company also proposed a remotely piloted aircraft that would have carried a 1,000 lb bomb, though this was never put into production.
Long-standing Miles employee D. L. Brown's talk features such famous Miles’ civilian and military aircraft as the Martlet, Magister, Messenger and Marathon. This latter aircraft was the company's response to the Brabazon Committee. Brown also discusses the relationship with the Royal Aircraft Establishment, which helped sponsor the company's research work and financed some of its aircraft.
D. L. Brown FRAeS addressed a meeting organised by the Royal Aeronautical Society’s Historical Group on 22 November 1965. 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 Mike Stanberry FRAeS.

RAeS lecture: UK As A Global Space Power

The RAeS “National Space Programme” Webinar brought together leading figures from different parts of the UK Space sector to discuss the UK’s ambitions for Space in the 2020s. This webinar was sponsored by Telespazio UK : https://telespazio.co.uk/en/home
The Space sector provides enabling capabilities that underpin global policy, defence, quality of life and the knowledge-based economy. In a competitive and strategically important field, the UK has set itself challenging objectives. In this webinar, our impressive panel of speakers from government, academia, defence and industry discusses the role of a national space programme in realising this goal.
Chair:
Howard Nye FRAeS, President-Elect, Royal Aeronautical Society
Panellists:
Ian Annett, Deputy CEO for Project Delivery, UK Space Agency
Gabriel Elefteriu, Director of Research and Head of Space Policy, Policy Exchange
Professor John Remedios, Head of the National Centre for Earth Observation, University of Leicester
Nick Shave, Chair, UKSpace

Classic lecture – The flight development of the Avro Vulcan by Tony Blackman FRAeS

The Avro Vulcan was one of Britain’s ‘most magnificent’ aeroplanes. Tony Blackman, one of the test pilots on the project, gives us an insight into the flight development programme which played such an important part in getting the delta-wing nuclear bomber ready for service. Blackman also tells us stories of the air demonstrations that spellbound the crowd at the Farnborough Air Show. The lecture concludes with a question and answer session, which includes contributions from those who flew and helped to design the aircraft.
Tony Blackman FRAeS addressed a meeting organised by the Royal Aeronautical Society’s Historical Group on 17 May 2007. The lecture was introduced by Dr Kit Mitchell FRAeS and the podcast was edited by Eur Ing Mike Stanberry FRAeS.

Classic lecture - London’s Aircraft Manufacturers by Dr Ron Smith FRAeS

London’s aircraft firms dominated the industry during the early part of the twentieth century and never more so than during World War I. In this lecture from 2012, Dr Ron Smith takes us on a tour of London’s airfields and manufacturers. As well as exploring the “Big five” – Grahame-White, Handley Page, de Havillands/Airco, Fairey & Sopwith/Hawkers – he looks at many of the smaller companies that were once found within London’s boroughs.
Dr Ron Smith FRAeS addressed a meeting organised by the Royal Aeronautical Society’s Historical Group on 22 February 2012. The lecture was introduced by Peter Elliott and the podcast was edited by Eur Ing Mike Stanberry FRAeS.

Rewind - Herschel & Planck: Europe launches the world’s largest space telescope by David Southwood

On the eve of launching the world’s largest telescope into space, the European Space Agency’s Director of Science & Robotic Exploration gives a wide-ranging lecture discussing the Herschel and Planck missions, ESA policy and programmes, ESAs astronomical work and his experience as an ESA director.
The core of this lecture was an exploration of the Herschel and Planck missions. Herschel, named after Sir William Herschel who from his home in Slough discovered light beyond the visible spectrum and mapped the northern skies, was designed to detect infrared to submillimetre wavelengths from cool objects across the Universe. The Herschel Space Observatory had the largest telescope ever flown in space with a main mirror 3.5 m across, more than four times larger than any previous infrared space telescope and almost one and a half times larger than that of the Hubble Space Telescope.
Planck, named after German physicist Max Planck, was Europe's first mission to study the Cosmic Microwave Background, the relic radiation from the Big Bang.
Dr David Southwood addressed a meeting organised by the Royal Aeronautical Society’s Space Group on 30 April 2009. The lecture was introduced by Pat Norris FRAeS and the podcast was edited by Eur Ing Mike Stanberry FRAeS.

Rewind: Boeing Commercial Airplanes at a crossroads by Jim Albaugh FRAeS

Boeing Commercial Airplanes’ CEO gives an interesting strategic view from the top of Boeing in 2011. He explores the trends affecting civil aviation, including the environmental considerations linked to the predicted expansion of airline operations and the resultant demands upon Air Traffic Management. He also sheds light on some of the manufacturing challenges encountered during the design and build of the 787 and explains some of the development options with the 777, 747-8 freighter, and whether to re-engine the 737 or design a new narrow-body aircraft. The recording also includes a fascinating question and answer session.
Jim Albaugh FRAeS gave the Royal Aeronautical Society’s 2011 Sopwith Memorial Lecture on 15 June 2011. The lecture was introduced by the then Chief Executive of the Royal Aeronautical Society, Simon Luxmoore FRAeS. The podcast was edited by Eur Ing Mike Stanberry FRAeS and released courtesy of the The Boeing Company.

Rewind: Technology of the airship by Dr Edwin Mowforth CEng MRAeS

One of the UK’s leading authorities on airship design gives a technical view of how airship design evolved from the first airship up to the mid-1970s. Mowforth also explores problems experienced in airship design in some detail, including static lift, aerodynamics, structures and materials.
Dr Edwin Mowforth CEng MRAeS gave his lecture to the Airship Association Members Meeting at the Royal Aeronautical Society’s Lecture Theatre on 24 September 1975 and the podcast was edited by Eur Ing Mike Stanberry FRAeS.

Classic Lecture: Air Power in Ages of Austerity by Air Chief Marshal Sir Stephen Dalton FRAeS

After the financial crash of 2008 the Royal Air Force was faced with shrinking budgets. In his fascinating lecture, the then Chief of the Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal Sir Stephen Dalton, summarises historical events when the RAF had to adapt to changing threats during periods of austerity, including the Iraqi Uprising just after World War I, the Berlin Airlift and the Cold War. He also shows how flexibility, the ability to deploy rapidly and work with international and industrial partners were crucial to the RAF's success in more recent conflicts such as Bosnia, Iraq and Afghanistan.
With lessons from history in mind, Sir Stephen turned to the challenges that faced the RAF at the beginning of the 2010s, stressing the need to balance operations in Afghanistan with the need for homeland defence and the security of NATO. Amongst other factors, he argued that Command and Control had to be flexible and new technologies, such as the use of UAVs and simulation, needed to be adopted as conflicts arise in different scenarios and the balance of power changed, both on the battlefield and in cyberspace.
Air Chief Marshal Sir Stephen Dalton FRAeS gave the Royal Aeronautical Society’s 98th Wilbur & Orville Memorial Lecture on 10 December 2009. The lecture was introduced by the then President, Dr Mike Steeden CEng FRAeS, and the podcast was edited by Eur Ing Mike Stanberry FRAeS.
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.

Classic Lecture – Into thin air & thick mud : aircraft accidents & how to survive them

A key role for the aviation medicine sector is to investigate the factors that impair our chances of safely surviving emergencies in flight. The RAF Centre of Aviation Medicine’s Head of Human Factors and Biomechanics and the principle investigator on over 130 aviation accident investigations gives a fascinating history of how we have developed our understanding of the subject before giving us his cardinal rules on surviving a crash, both for civilians and servicemen.
Wg Cdr Matt Lewis MRAeS gave the Royal Aeronautical Society’s 37th Stewart Memorial Lecture on 18 March 2008. The lecture was introduced by AVM Simon Dougherty and the podcast was edited by Eur Ing Mike Stanberry FRAeS.
The material and information contained in this lecture are UK Ministry of Defence © Crown copyright 2008 and the recording is the copyright of the Royal Aeronautical Society 2008.