Royal Aeronautical Society Podcast

The Boeing 777 Accident at Dubai Airport (2016) - Lessons to be Learnt

On 3 August 2016, a Boeing 777-300 crash landed on the runway at Dubai, UEA, after an attempted ‘go-around’. On board were 282 passengers, two flight crew and 16 cabin crew. As the aeroplane slid along the runway, the No.2 (right) engine separated from the wing and there was an intense fuel fire in this area, as well as fire to the No.1 (left) engine. After the aeroplane came to a stop the Commander ordered the evacuation, but because of the high winds and the external fire there were several issues with the evacuation.
The GCAA Final Report on this accident will be used to frame a discussion on some of the key findings, lessons and recommendations that can be taken away from this accident. These may include discussion of technical information provided by manufacturers, coordination of cabin evacuations, the part played by fire and rescue services, environmental factors, training programmes and safety systems.

Rewind - The R.101 Airship Disaster - 80 years on by Peter Davison & Dr Giles Camplin

The dreams of British airship designers literally went up in smoke when the R.101 crashed, killing 48 onboard, including the Air Minister Lord Thomson and Sir Sefton Brancker, the legendary Director of Civil Aviation. After taking us through the development of the British airship programme, Peter Davison & Giles Camplin discuss the R.101 development programme, the run up to the airship’s departure on 4 November 1930 and their view of the events that happened in the early hours of 5 November.
Peter Davison & Dr Giles Camplin addressed a meeting of the Royal Aeronautical Society’s Historical Group on 4 November 2010 and the podcast was edited by Mike Stanberry FRAeS.

Rewind – Vulcan to the Sky : return of the Vulcan…nearly there by Dr Robert Pleming FRAeS

“There is something special…. about big delta aeroplanes. Somehow Concorde and the Vulcan capture the public imagination like no other jet aircraft.” 14 years after its last flight & with over £7 million spent, Vulcan XH558 roared into the air on 18 October 2007. Five months before the launch and right at the end of the project’s restoration phase, Robert Pleming, Chief Executive of Vulcan to the Sky Trust, gave members of the RAeS Historical Group insights into the technical and non-technical challenges that the project team faced in order to get the British strategic bomber back into the skies.
The lecture is followed by a question and answer session in which Vulcan veterans and others find out more about the project.
Dr Robert Pleming FRAeS addressed a meeting of the Royal Aeronautical Society’s Historical Group on 17 May 2007 and the podcast and film was edited by Mike Stanberry FRAeS.

Classic Lecture: The U-2 Reconnaissance Aircraft Incident of 1 May 1960 by Chris Pocock

The Cold War hotted up sixty years ago when a Lockheed U-2 spy plane, nicknamed "Dragon Lady", was shot down by a surface-to-air missile during a mission over the Soviet Union. In his lecture, historian Chris Pocock tells us the fascinating background history behind the series of missions that led to one of the USA’s most embarrassing post-war incidents.
Chris Pocock addressed a joint meeting of the Royal Aeronautical Society’s Historical & Air Power Groups on 15 April 2010 and the podcast was edited by Mike Stanberry FRAeS.

Rewind: Circuits & Splashes: The History, Design and Flying of Water Aircraft by Capt Tony Irwin

Water aircraft captain Tony Irwin gives us insights into the world of marine aircraft, both past and present. After giving a brief history of water flying he explores the aircraft he has experienced through his long career, discusses his work developing the Seawind water plane, highlights the challenges faced by those designing and flying water planes and how they have been overcome, whilst telling anecdotes along the way.
Capt. Tony Irwin addressed a meeting of the Royal Aeronautical Society’s General Aviation Group on 8 May 2012 and the podcast was edited by Mike Stanberry FRAeS.

Classic Lecture: Cody and Roe - Two Remarkable Men by Philip Jarrett HonCRAeS

The race to be the first man in the UK to fly a powered aircraft brought two towering figures to the fore; the former cowboy and showman S. F. Cody, and the man who went on to form and run one of the UK’s major aircraft firms, A. V. Roe. Philip Jarrett takes us through the evolution of each man’s aircraft up to the first UK flight in 1908, before exploring how they both adapted their designs during the early days of the new era. The lecture is followed by a wide-ranging question and answer session that covers the pre-1914 days of aeronautics in the UK and beyond.
Philip Jarrett HONCRAeS addressed a meeting of the Royal Aeronautical Society’s Historical Groups on 15 April 2008 and the podcast was edited by Mike Stanberry FRAeS

Classic Lecture: Recollections of a Pioneer, Igor Sikorsky by Sergei Sikorsky

In his fascinating and entertaining history of aeronautics, the son of Igor Sikorsky weaves his father’s story into the achievements of his fellow pioneers in the science and industry of powered flight. Sergei Sikorsky draws on his father’s views of figures such as Otto Lilienthal, the Wright Brothers and Charles Lindbergh to tell the story of Igor Sikorsky’s career designing and building aircraft in Imperial Russia, France and the USA before moving back to his first love, the helicopter.
Sergei Sikorsky addressed the 2007 Handley Page Lecture to the Royal Aeronautical Society on 26 April 2007 and the podcast was edited by Mike Stanberry FRAeS.

Classic Lecture Series: 55 years of flying fun by Clive Rustin FRAeS

RAE and Fast Jet Test Squadron test pilot Clive Rustin recounts stories from some of the 165 aircraft types he flew over half a century of “flying fun”. Clive starts this barnstorming lecture by explaining how he moved into test flying to pursue his love of flying and to ensure that his father, whose hard work paid for him to go through university, did not think he had wasted his Chemical Engineering degree. After a time flying Hawker Hunters and English Electric Lightnings, he passed through the Empire Test Pilot School in 1961 before flying over 70 types as an experimental test pilot and then OC Flying at the Aerodynamics and Research Flight at RAE Bedford. There his work included supersonic research for Concorde, V/STOL projects including the Hawker Siddeley P.1127/Kestrel evaluation flight and research into short-field landing; though he started on the Fairey Delta 2 simulator before a memorial flight on the real thing.
After passing through Staff or “Stuff” College, as he called it, he describes the flying work undertaken under his command at RAE Farnborough in the early 1970s, together with stories of his time flying for a transatlantic blind landing V/STOL project. In 1974 he was posted as OC of the Jet Test Squadron at Boscombe Down, where his team ran clearance programmes for the military, and tells stories of his work with the Jaguar, Harrier, Phantom and Hunter. Though his RAF career finished at the RAF Handling Squadron at Boscombe Down, his flying career continued and Clive goes on to tell a little of his time as an airship captain and flying the Spitfire, Vampire and Venom in vintage aircraft displays.
The lecture was addressed to the Royal Aeronautical Society’s General Aviation Group on 21 February 2012 and the podcast was edited by Mike Stanberry FRAeS.

Classic Lecture Series: The Real Space Race – Spy Satellites in the Cold War by Pat Norris FRAeS

Using the skies to monitor your foe is an essential part of the nuclear age; a task that was made more difficult once the crash of the American U-2 aircraft made it clear that it was too dangerous to use observation aircraft. Starting the story from the dropping of the first atom bomb, Pat Norris explores how and why satellites system such the USA’s CORONA and the USSR’s Zenit 2 were developed and used, before exploring what lessons can be learnt today.
The lecture was addressed to the Royal Aeronautical Society’s Space Group on 13 February 2008 and the podcast was edited by Mike Stanberry FRAeS.

From the Archive: F. M. Green on life at the Royal Aircraft Factory, 1910-17

Early aircraft designer, F. M. Green, talks about the best and most exciting years of his life – working at the Government’s aircraft factory in Farnborough, the precursor to the Royal Aircraft Establishment. In this short recording, he discusses his work on airships, how he helped to recruit Geoffrey de Havilland and their joint work “reconstructing” aircraft, such as the Royal Aircraft Factory BE2.
The podcast was edited by Mike Stanberry FRAeS.