Royal Aeronautical Society Podcast

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.

Classic Lecture Series - The Short Brothers before and after 1909 by Gordon Bruce FRAeS

Short Brothers were the first UK company to manufacture aeroplanes. On the one hundredth anniversary of the opening of their first aeroplane works, Gordon Bruce recounts the amazing story of how two of the three brothers became entranced by flying machines and, now joined by the third brother, produce their first powered aircraft and build versions of the Wright A aircraft. He then explores the ups and downs of the company’s history over the following century, both in Kent and in Belfast.
The lecture was addressed to the Royal Aeronautical Society’s Historical Group on 24 February 2009 and the podcast was edited by Mike Stanberry FRAeS.

Classic Lecture Series – From gliders to jets : Hiller X-18 & Fairchild C-123 by Don Richardson

A test-bed for tiltwing and V/STOL aircraft and flexible assault transport aircraft both started life as a large assault glider in 1948. Both projects evolved with the demands of the United States Air Force and advances in technology, and both provided excitement and challenges for its designers and engineers, including a young Don Richardson.
The lecture was addressed to the Royal Aeronautical Society’s Historical Group on 11 May 2006, the podcast was edited by Mike Stanberry FRAeS and it was digitised thanks to a grant from the Royal Aeronautical Society Foundation.

Affordable air power in the future: ’fully comp’ or third party, fire & theft? By Sir Brian Burridge

What level of air power insurance should we take out and which add-ons should we get? Analysing the suite of air power options available in 2007 and where technology might take them, Sir Brian takes us through the six core roles of air power with the aim of addressing the questions of what is a sensible insurance policy for the future, how much capability risk can a nation take in reducing the premium it needs to pay, whether super-powers are the only ones who can afford “fully comp” and what could be the consequences for those who go for a lower level of cover?
The lecture was addressed to the Royal Aeronautical Society’s Air Power Group on 11 January 2007 and the podcast was edited by Mike Stanberry FRAeS.

Classic Lecture Series: Looking ahead with hindsight by Sir George Edwards Hon FRAeS

From the bouncing bomb to Concorde, one of the towering figures in post-war aeronautics gives a tour-de-force on his careers and the lessons that he learned along the way or, as he put it, “it is a great temptation when you are my age…to blather away about all of the things that you did in the past and it is a temptation quite frankly that I didn’t resist”.
In 1934 Sir George fancied “a dabble in the aeroplane racket” and started as a draftsman at Vickers, before working with Barnes Wallis, Sydney Camm and Rex Rex Pierson. He discusses such projects as Barnes Wallis’s bouncing bomb, before moving onto the projects that he was involved in such as the Vickers Valiant and the BAC TSR2, as well as the collaborative projects of SEPECAT Jaguar and Aérospatiale/BAC Concorde, whether as Chief Designer or Managing Director or Chairman on the Board. He then goes on to explore the forces that affected the aerospace industry during his career, before looking into his crystal ball to predict the future and make a number of suggestions with the hope that “younger members of the community…. can discern any sort of a message here or there…. and have the courage to do something about it”.
The 62nd Wilbur & Orville Wright Lecture took place on 6 December 1973, the podcast was edited by Mike Stanberry FRAeS and it was digitised thanks to a grant from the Royal Aeronautical Society Foundation.