Royal Aeronautical Society Podcast

Alan Bristow Memorial Lecture 2016

The advent of a civil certified tiltrotor offers operators of rotary wing fleets the chance to revolutionise their business models, achieving a new level of fleet optimisation and a step change in actual customer value. The tiltrotor will not simply replace traditional rotary and fixed wing types but it will work in concert with both to allow each type of aircraft to be used to its most efficient best purpose.
Working together, AgustaWestland (AW) and Bristow have developed an increasingly clear understanding of how the tiltrotor will add value to the existing rotary wing fleets across many roles. To maximise the benefits available from the tiltrotor it has been necessary to remove the constraints applied to current operations, to permit free thinking and to admit applications that will be entirely new so as to take advantage of the unique capabilities of the tiltrotor configuration. The 2016 Alan Bristow Memorial Lecture will illustrate how AW and Bristow have collaborated to develop and define a unique view of how the civil tiltrotor will be absorbed into the traditional rotary wing fleets in ways that will optimise fleet usage in ways that are impossible today and add new capabilities that will drive significant improvements in overall customer satisfaction with the service on offer. Examples will be provided to illustrate the revolution that will be achieved by the use of the tiltrotor configuration.

Winkle - A Life at Full Throttle

This lecture looks back at the life of Captain Eric Brown – universally known as ‘Winkle’ who sadly passed away earlier this year.

Concorde - Flying into the Future

A panel of speakers from the original 'core' Concorde crew team speak at the Society for the 40th anniversary of the start of successful supersonic passenger services.

Wilbur And Orville Wright 2015

Nigel Whitehead OBE FREng FRAeS CEng, Group Managing Director - Programmes and Support, BAE Systems plc delivers the 2015 Wilbur and Orville Wright Lecture.

Brabazon Lecture 2015

James Hogan FRAeS, President & Chief Executive Officer, Etihad Airways talks at the Society for the 2015 Brabazon Named Lecture.

Aeromedical Aspects of Flight Simulation

Commercial airline pilots undergo six monthly simulator assessments throughout the length of their entire career where they are comprehensively examined on both their technical and non-technical performance. This lecture will review the history and development of flight simulators and synthetic training devices from an aeromedical perspective. It will then briefly look at the content of a typical simulator assessment and consider how these training devices can be used at different stages of a pilot’s career. The presentation will explore how these training devices manipulate a variety of human physiological principles and limitations in order to maximize the fidelity of the training experience, with particular reference to the simulator motion and visual systems. Whilst the importance of flight simulators in the aeromedical decision-making process has been long established, the current use of synthetic training devices in aeromedical functional assessments for a variety of conditions will also be considered.

Capt Ray Jones Memorial Lecture 2015

This lecture honours Capt Ray Jones, one of the Flight Simulation Groups founding members and celebrates his contribution to the development of the group, the advancement in the art and science of flight simulation and in particular application in the training of civil airline pilots.
This year's lecture will be entitled 'Improving Instructor Standards and Regulating for the Best Safety Use of Flight Simulators' presented by Roger Weeks, Senior Manager Operations Safety at the Civil Aviation Safety Authority in Australia.
In this lecture, Roger Weeks will share Australia’s experience with a major safety initiative introduced in 2007 to improve the standards of flying instructors. The Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) took a ‘back-to-basics’ approach in order to address concerns that pilot standards were declining. The program has been highly successful with improvements in graduation standards of flying instructors achieved. In the second part of the Captain Ray Jones Memorial Lecture, Roger will address the manner in which the use of flight simulators has been mandated for certain training and re-currency activities. In addition to addressing high-risk activities, the approach taken by CASA recognises the value and richness that can be gained by using simulators in type rating programs. Given Captain Jones’ pioneering work in civil airline simulator training, details of this initiative will be highly relevant to those who have an interest in, or involvement with the world of simulator training and testing.

The Vickers Wellington

In this lecture Steve Bond discussed elements of his latest
book, the subject of which is a major history of the Vickers
Wellington - the only RAF bomber to have served in its
original role from the first day of World War II to the last, and in every theatre.

Sopwith Lecture 2015

James Arbuthnot discusses the current government position on
nuclear weapons, SDSR and the proposal that all NATO
countries should move to spend 2% on defence at the 2015 Sopwith Named Lecture.

NASA Administrator Lecture

Maj. Gen. Charles Bolden Jr, Administrator, NASA speaks at the Society for this Space Group Lecture.