Royal Aeronautical Society Podcast

Edwin A Link Named Lecture 2015

This year's lecture, 'Investigation in Simulation', was given by Nathalie de Ziegler, Investigating Officer, Bureau d'Enquêtes et d'Analyses (BEA). She described the interest of simulation during investigation, with a focus on human performance, and precautions to be taken which will be illustrated by a real case study.

Air Power and the Defence Aerospace Industry in the Whole Force Era

The Royal Air Force, UK air power and the defence aerospace industry are at a critical point in their evolution. After 12 years of enduring stabilisation operations, UK air power is now reconfiguring towards Future Force 2020. But just what that future holds is unclear: greater complexity, less certainty and increased insecurity is the prediction.
Air Marshal North offered the Royal Air Force view that the answer lies in adjusting how the two work together in the decades ahead, suggesting their respective futures are now fused as one.

Ballantyne Audio 2015

Ballantyne Audio 2015 by AeroSociety Podcast

30 Years at the European Space Agency

In this lecture Jean-Jacques Dordain share his experiences of working at the European Space Agency (ESA) for nearly thirty years, the last twelve of which he has been the Agency’s Director General. Mr Dordain will step down from this position in June 2015.

Commercial Aviation Trends - Past, Present and Future

Sir Roy McNulty, Chairman of Gatwick Airport Limited discusses the principal trends which have affected the industry in the UK over the past 40 years and looks ahead at the future challenges facing commercial aviation.

Contemporary Royal Naval Helicopter Operations

The first operational Wildcat HMA Mk2 crews are being trained to achieve the required high level of tactical and technical proficiency on entry-into-service. Training of the Wildcat crews has taken training to new levels using a purpose built training centre, the Wildcat Training Centre, conceived and developed through team work among the MoD and the Industrial partnership of AgustaWestland, Indra and Pennant.
This lecture will describe the operational capability provided by Wildcat and how its crews are being made ready to play their intended roles as part of an integrated naval weapon system capability.

8 Ton Glider to Autorotating Helo in 12 Seconds

The AW609 is an AgustaWestland (AW) twin engine tilt rotor aircraft that is being certified in the FAA powered lift category. Its lineage can be traced back through the V-22 Osprey to the XV-15 and the XV-3. The AW609 will be certificated in the FAA powered lift category. Paul Edwards, AW609 Test Pilot discusses the the flight testing challenges.

Rosetta: How We Landed on a Comet

This lecture provided an update on the Rosetta mission after the lecture delivered at the Society in June 2014, prior to the landing. It briefly summarized the objectives of the mission and the most important milestones of the 10 year flight, before concentrating on the most recent events: the arrival at the comet, the challenges of developing the comet model while orbiting it, and of course the landing. The exciting operations on the day of the landing and over the 2.5 days on the surface will be presented, together with an overview of the future activities of this extremely challenging and unique space mission.

Out of the FOG

Commercial aviation safety is the best it has ever been,
and flight operations are effectively and efficiently
moving forward. While recognising the many successes in
aviation, there are increasing expectations of safety, new
technologies, new airspace operations, new generations of
aviation professionals and other factors that are changing
aviation. There are both challenges and opportunities in
these changes, and fundamental questions to be answered.
This lecture will discuss those challenges and opportunities,
and identify fundamental underlying questions.

History And Development Of Sailplanes

Howard Torode, Chairman, Tehcnical Committee, British Gliding Association and Afandi Darlington, Senior Inspector of Air Accidents (Engineering), AAIB speak about gliding and soaring having held a mutual relationship with mainstream aviation developments ever since the experiments of Sir George Cayley in 1852, through to the birth of modern aviation in the 1900’s and to the present day. This lecture discussed the experiences of sailplane designers throughout the twentieth century, in pursuit of higher aerodynamic performance, and compare these with parallel application of similar technologies in mainstream aircraft design. Howard and Afandi drew on well known aerospace design philosophies, and showed examples of how they have been equally applied to the design of sailplanes, including the benefits and lessons learnt. The lecture also demonstrated how the continuing technological developments have enabled sailplane pilots to continue to expand their wide soaring horizons. The speakers concluded with a forward look at how sailplanes might be developed into the future using both evolutionary and disruptive technology.