Royal Aeronautical Society Podcast

An interview with the civil pioneers.... flying over the Middle East with Capt H. W. C. Alger

Captain H. W. C. Alger first began flying Vickers Vernons on the Cairo to Baghdad airmail route when serving in the RAF and, when Imperial Airways took over the route, he was selected to join the national carrier, this time flying de Havilland DH.66s. In this interview he describes the Desert Air Route and takes us through some hair-raising stories.
Captain H. W. C. Alger was interviewed by David Jones on 8 June 1975. This recording is part a AeroSociety Podcast series, Development of Civil Aviation from the UK to Australasia. It was digitised thanks to a grant from the RAeS Foundation and the podcast was edited by Eur Ing Mike Stanberry FRAeS.

An interview with the civil pioneers….. aircraft maintenance in the desert with Capt W. L. Garner

Though flying the early civil aircraft could be a challenge, so could maintaining the aircraft along the desert air route. Capt. Garner explores the challenges supporting aircraft as a ground engineer in North Africa, first for the Royal Air Force and then as part of Imperial Airway’s Ground engineering staff. Not only did he have a number of adventures with the airline’s aircraft, he also helped to support some of the civil record breakers, including Charles Kingsford Smith in the Southern Cross and Bert Hinkler during his first flight from London to Australia.
Garner moved from ground engineering to flight engineering, and it is from the flight engineer’s seat that he played a memorable role in the experimental air mail flight from Karachi to Darwin in 1931.
Garner’s career continued into the period where landplanes gave way to flying boats and he retells stories of some of the first flying boats to enter service.
Captain W. L. Garner was interviewed by David Jones on 13 June 1975. This recording is part of the series Development of Civil Aviation from the UK to Australasia. It was digitised thanks to a grant from the RAeS Foundation and the podcast was edited by Eur Ing Mike Stanberry FRAeS.

AEROSPACE NOTAM - May 2023

In this new podcast series from the Royal Aeronautical Society's monthly AEROSPACE magazine, Editor in Chief Tim Robinson and Deputy Editor Stephen Bridgewater analyse recent aviation, aerospace and space news - and preview the next May 2023 of the magazine. Find out more at www.aerosociety.com

An interview with the civil pioneers... early days of flying over the Outback with Capt Lester Brain

Captain Brain was one of Qantas’ first pilots, taking the airline from converted World War I bombers to Catalinas in World War II. In the interview, Brain explains what life was like in the early days flying over the Outback, including the early days of the flying doctor service and searching for crashed aircraft. He looks at the impact of the brave adventurers such as Alan Cobham and Bert Hinkler and the real pioneers, the men and women who made civil aviation sustainable in Australia. He also looks at some of the aircraft he introduced into service, such as the de Havilland DH.86 Express and the Catalina Flying Boats, the latter of which entered service during the Second World War.
Capt. Lester Brain was interviewed by David Jones in around 1975. This recording is part a AeroSociety Podcast series, Development of Civil Aviation from the UK to Australasia, it was digitised thanks to a grant from the RAeS Foundation and the podcast was edited by Eur Ing Mike Stanberry FRAeS.

AEROSPACE NOTAM - April 2023

In this new podcast series from the Royal Aeronautical Society's monthly AEROSPACE magazine, Editor in Chief Tim Robinson and Deputy Editor Stephen Bridgewater analyse recent aviation, aerospace and space news - and preview the next edition of the magazine. Find out more at www.aerosociety.com

Rewind - The History of the SRN Series of Hovercraft by Ray Wheeler FRAeS

The SRN-1 was the world’s first amphibious hovercraft and it led to a series of craft designed and built on the Isle of Wight. Though most famous for civil uses, the SN series was adapted for military uses and models were sold across the world. There were also schemes to use hovercraft technology for other industrial uses.
Ray Wheeler gives an insider’s view of how and why the series evolved and how they overcame a host of technical and design challenges, from corrosion protection to structural problems caused by stiletto heels. He also explains the strengths and weaknesses of the different types and retells some fascinating stories along the way.
Ray Wheeler was in the perfect position to give this lecture as he was at the centre of the development of this series of hovercraft, from the 1950s to the early 1990s. He started as a stressman for Saro, before working up the newly amalgamated British Hovercraft Company with posts including Chief Designer, before retiring as Systems Support Director at the restructured Westlands Aerospace. The team’s achievements were even more remarkable as he and his fellow designers were also working on a great variety of other projects at the same time, from missiles to large domed roofs.
Ray Wheeler FRAeS gave his lecture to a meeting organised by the Royal Aeronautical Society’s Historical Group on 21 July 2005. The lecture is introduced by Frank Armstrong FRAeS, the recording was digitised thanks to a grant from the RAeS Foundation and the podcast was edited by Eur Ing Mike Stanberry FRAeS.

International Women’s Day 2023: alta Mentoring Spotlight

Happy International Women’s day! As part of our celebrations this year we are showcasing our alta mentoring platform, a platform by women, for women. This podcast features Alessandra Badino FRAeS and Erika Ramos da Silva, a mentor and mentee on the platform, they discussed their experiences on the platform and with mentoring as a whole.

Greener by Design Group Debate: Aviation will not meet net zero by 2050

The Royal Aeronautical Society Greener by Design Group with the Young Persons Committee held a debate on this motion on Friday 9 December 2022 (https://www.aerosociety.com/events-calendar/raes-greener-by-design-group-debate-aviation-will-not-meet-net-zero-by-2050/).
An informed and knowledgeable set of speakers introduced the arguments. Finlay Asher of Safe Landing proposed the motion, seconded by Matt Finch of Transport & Environment. The opposition was led by Jonathon Counsell, Group Head of Sustainability at IAG airlines group and seconded by Andy Jefferson, Programme Director of Sustainable Aviation. Click and listen to the debate’s recording now.

Classic Lecture: Flying the X-15 by Robert M. White

The North American X-15 was the record-breaking high-speed and high-altitude research aircraft that played an important part in the race to the moon. In this lecture the test pilot who pegged up most ‘firsts’ in the X-15 gives his British peers insights into the aircraft’s flight test programme, including the aircraft’s stability and control and handling qualities, and goes onto describe the cockpit set-up and the programme’s use of simulation. He also explored the aircraft’s and the programme’s early objectives and the challenges facing those working on the aircraft, such as those caused by aerodynamic heating.
Robert M. White addressed the Third Meeting of the Royal Aeronautical Society’s Test Pilots’ Group on 11 December 1964. The lecture was introduced by Bill Bedford FRAeS, the recording was digitised thanks to a grant from the RAeS Foundation and the podcast was edited by Eur Ing Mike Stanberry FRAeS.

Apprenticeship Lowdown

Find out more about becoming an apprentice from current apprentices in the aerospace and aviation industry.