Royal Aeronautical Society Podcast

Alan Bristow Lecture 2018

The Annual Rotorcraft Alan Bristow Memorial Lecture will be presented by Vice Admiral Sir Simon Lister KCB OBE FREng Managing Director, Aircraft Carrier Alliance.
The Queen Elizabeth Class carriers are a joint defence asset, designed to deliver air power and provide four acres of UK sovereign territory anywhere across the globe. With an expected service life of up to 50 years, the two highly versatile aircraft carriers will be able to meet the widest range of tasks.
As Managing Director of the Aircraft Carrier Alliance, the organisation charged with delivering the most capable and powerful surface warships ever constructed in the UK, Vice Admiral Sir Simon Lister will discuss the history, current position and future of the Queen Elizabeth Class programme, taking a specific view of the aircraft/ship interface.
Simon’s background in the Royal Navy and his personal links with naval aviation will provide an insightful lecture on this critical defence capability – both the engineering feat and operational requirements behind it.
Simon will speak of the aviation considerations built into the ship through design, in build and through trials and reflect on the exciting future of this strategic national defence capability.

The Royal Air Force at 100

Air Chief Marshal Sir Stephen Hillier FRAeS, Chief of the Air Staff, Royal Air Force delivers this lecture to the Society as part of the RAF 100 celebrations.
On 1 April 2018, the Royal Air Force celebrates its 100th birthday. To mark this occasion, they will be looking to reflect on their history and achievements across a number of events and celebrations of the work they are currently doing and look forward to the next 100 years.

Classic Lecture Series: Freddie Page, Aerospace Engineer & Businessman by Prof Keith Hayward

Sir Frederick Page played a leading role in both design and management in some of the most advanced post-war military combat aircraft programmes in the UK. However, he had a secret. Towards the end of his life he wrote his memoirs, sealed them in an envelope and entrusted it to the Royal Aeronautical Society for safe keeping. He left strict instructions that it should not be opened until after his death. The memoirs and now safely held at the National Aerospace Library.
The first man to study Sir Frederick Page’s memoir in depth was Keith Hayward and in this lecture, he draws extensively from the manuscript to discuss his early years and training, how he rose to the top of English Electric at Warton and his work on the English Electric’s Canberra and Lightning, and the TSR2.
Prof Keith Hayward addressed the Royal Aeronautical Society’s Historical Group on 6th October 2006 and the podcast was edited by Mike Stanberry FRAeS.

The Reggie Brie Interview

Cierva test and demonstration pilot R. A. C. Brie discusses his aeronautical life. After service during the First World War, Brie worked for Shell during the week and at the weekends was paid for joy riding aircraft in the. A flying accident led to him to rotorcraft and he tells the story of how he started working for the Cierva Autogiro Company. A Cierva he helped with the development of the Cierva C.19 and C.30, taking part in the “Flying Circuses” of the 1930s and establishing the Cierva Flying School at Hanworth. It was during his time at Cierva that he became the first man to fly a rotorcraft off a cruiser and the first Briton to fly a rotorcraft on and off an aircraft carrier.
Reggie Brie goes onto discuss his roles during the Second World War, including spells in the USA designed to raise interest in using autogiros in the hunt for submarine. Whilst in America Brie made time to discuss the role of rotorcraft with US companies including Sikorsky, before being call back to the UK to take charge of BEA’s Experimental Helicopter Unit.
The interview was conducted by J. L. Nayler and Arnold Nayler in 1970. The podcast was edited by Mike Stanberry FRAeS and it was digitised thanks to a grant from the Royal Aeronautical Society Foundation.

The Fleet Air Arm - Past, Present, and Future by Commander Graeme Rowan-Thomson

Pilot and serving officer in the Fleet Air Arm, Commander Graeme Rowan-Thomson, gives a short history of the Royal Navy’s air wing, before reflecting on the aircraft, helicopters and other technologies that that revolutionised the service in the 1950s and 1960s, before making predictions for the future.
Commander Graeme Rowan-Thomson addressed the Royal Aeronautical Society’s Weybridge Branch on 4th November 1970. The podcast was edited by Mike Stanberry FRAeS and it was digitised thanks to a grant from the Royal Aeronautical Society Foundation.

NASA Flight Research, Past and Future

This presentation will cover the conduct of experimental flight research at NASA Armstrong flight research X-airplanes. The talk starts with the 70th anniversary of the X-1 supersonic flight and a discussion of why this type of flight test became focused at Edwards Air Force Base. Early accomplishments in supersonic and hypersonic flight will be highlighted. The speaker also discusses his involvement with the X-31, X-38, and X-43. The talk will then transition to a discussion of the future of x-planes and the emphasis on all electric aircraft, quiet supersonic flight, and ultra-efficient commercial aircraft.

The History of Royal Flying

In celebration of last year's Centenary of Royal Flying on 17 July 2017, to mark the occasion, the RAeS Historical Group hosted ‘The History of Royal Flying’. The illustrated talk from Sqn Leader Graham Laurie MVO RAF (Ret) covers the early days of Royal Flying, the formation of The King’s Flight and The Queen’s Flight, up until the present day along with some personal reminiscences.

The Future of Human Powered Flight

The DaSH project is the first successful HPA that has flown in the U.S. since the mid-1990s. Leaning on and learning from the advice and knowledge of those that have been successful in the past was key to having DaSH fly well from the very first flight. Alec will talk about what choices were made in the design that led to that success, but most of all he will focus on all the interesting failures and setbacks that happened during the design and testing phases, and what has been learned from them. How can DaSH be improved, and what are some other, perhaps better ways to build a similar plane in the future?
The speaker will then focus on the role of contests, rallies and school projects in creating interest and excitement, and most importantly, viable, flying aircraft. Can HPA flying become a sport? What would that look like? What should the focus be as we try to foster and build and even more vibrant HPA community?

The Early Years of the RAF - RAF Museum 2018 Trenchard Lectures

Today the RAF has a history. An element of the contemporary RAF’s challenge is to innovate, while grappling with the legacy of one hundred years of existence and experience. In 1918 it did not have a history and this may well have been one of its most significant advantages. The newly-created RAF had to fight not only for its survival but to create a culture and sustainable pedigree with very little legacy. In this lecture, Sophy Gardner explores the nature of this advantage to the RAF in its early years.

Classic Lecture Series: Sir Richard Glazebrook on Electrical Quantities

The ohm, amp and volt are now understood around the world. In this interview Sir Richard Glazebrook, a key figure in the international standardisation and determination of electrical quantities, discusses his research and committee work to define how electricity is measured today.
Sir Richard was the first Director of the National Physical Laboratory, the first Chair of the Advisory Committee on Aeronautics and the 2nd Wilbur and Orville Wright Memorial Lecturer.
Sir Richard Glazebrook talk was recorded in 1934 and the podcast was released courtesy of the IET Archive. The original film version of this recording can be viewed via the National Physical Laboratory YouTube channel. The podcast was edited by Mike Stanberry FRAeS and it was digitised thanks to a grant from the Royal Aeronautical Society Foundation.