RAeS Boscombe Down Branch

06/05/2024

We're greatly saddened to learn that long-time branch and committee member Norman Parker has passed away. He made a huge impact on the branch and was known and respected by so many across Amesbury and beyond; he will be greatly missed by all. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends.

It was with great sadness that the trustees of Amesbury History Centre received the news of Norman Parker’s death. His introduction to historical research began in 1940 when he joined Vickers Armstrong at their Weybridge Works. He had worked throughout the war repairing crashed Wellington bombers and Spitfires. After working for the RAF, the Ministry of Defence at Boscombe Down, and Fairey Aviation, he retired from Pains-Wessex as a quality manager.
In 1975, he helped establish the Amesbury Society and, in 2012, the Amesbury History Centre. He published monthly articles on local history in the Stonehenge Trader and a selection of these were published as ‘Norman’s View’. As President of the Amesbury History Centre charity, he whole-heartedly advocated for the building of the new Centre, which re-opened last year, and he was well-known as a source of historical knowledge for visitors, volunteers, and trustees.
Our thoughts are with his family and friends at this time.
Over the next few weeks we will be paying tribute to Norman at the History Centre, with more information coming soon.

The Trustees of Amesbury History Centre.

04/10/2023

As we look forwards to the 2024 Joe Morrall competition, we thought it would be nice to look back at and congratulate our 2023 winner, Sara Ibrahim.

Back in March, the Branch once again hosted its annual lecture competition, the Joe Morrall Award. Held virtually, it saw three young professionals present a series of detailed and thought-provoking talks on a range of topics covering space debris, human factors in aviation and biomimicry.

While all the participants scored highly, it was Aerospace Engineering student Sara Ibrahim who took the honours with her presentation The Biological Fleet. Congratulations Sara and best of luck with your entry in this year’s RAeS N E Rowe competition!

The Branch would also like to thank Sophie Mitchell and Caitlin Moore for taking part and delivering two excellent presentations, as well as Nick Lay (Engineering Director – UK Defence, QinetiQ) and Rob McKee (Chief Engineer – Air, QinetiQ) for taking the time to judge this year’s competition.

If you have an interest in any part of aerospace and want to talk about it, please do consider applying for the next competition! Details will be released shortly...

29/09/2023

~ Autumn 2023 Lecture Season ~

The RAeS Boscombe Down Branch is delighted to announce our provisional lecture schedule for Autumn 2023. Details on further lectures into 2024 will follow shortly.

Additional announcements will be made when each event is formally confirmed, so please keep an eye out on our website, social media channels or (if you have not already) sign up to our mailing list on the main Society’s website: aerosociety.com.

We hope to see you at a lecture soon!

28/04/2023

Calling all university students, graduates, industry apprentices and early careers professionals! Show off your aero knowledge and skills to battle it out for the coveted AeroChallenge trophy (and bragging rights!)

Join our 2023 competition as an individual or form a virtual team to participate in our online quiz and secret build challenge. http://ow.ly/hJRp50NH3yu

23/12/2022

On Wednesday 7th December, nine members of the branch gathered at a very chilly Cotswold Airport (formerly Kemble) to visit the hydrogen-electric aircraft developer, ZeroAvia. We were treated to a fascinating presentation by resident test pilot, Jon Killerby, and hydrogen powertrain expert, Aajay Sankar, before embarking on a tour of their hangar to see their latest creation – a Dornier 228 technology demonstrator, converted to run on electricity generated from hydrogen fuel cells. All would agree that it was an amazing chance to see some of the latest developments towards sustainable aviation, and we’re looking forwards to hearing good news about the upcoming test flight! Thank you very much to and all involved for making it a great visit!

17/10/2022

Check out the RAeS's Young Person Conference, now rescheduled for Friday, 9 December 2022 at No. 4 Hamilton Place. The conference aims to explore future aviation propulsion. See the website for more information: bit.ly/3dGPspB

23/09/2022

The RAeS Boscombe Down Branch invites you to attend the following lecture: Mitsubishi Ki-15 "Babs" - The World's First High-Speed Strategic Reconnaissance Aircraft by Giuseppe "Joe" Picarella MRAeS

Tuesday 25th October 2022 – 17:30 BST
LIVE from MOD Boscombe Down

For more details, please visit our website...

The RAeS Boscombe Down Branch invites you to attend the following lecture: Mitsubishi Ki-15 "Babs" - The World's First High-Speed Strategic Reconnaissance Aircr

23/09/2022

The RAeS Boscombe Down Branch is pleased to announce the first confirmed events of our upcoming 2022/23 season, albeit slightly later than usual.

For more details, please visit our website below...

The RAeS Boscombe Down Branch is pleased to announce the first confirmed events of our upcoming 2022/23 season, albeit slightly later than usual. Given the

01/07/2022

Get creative and enter our video competition, we are challenging you to show off your creative skills and share your knowledge...

The RAeS is inviting you to produce an informative video on something aerospace or aviation related. It could be anything; a topic you are particularly passionate about, a project from university or work, trying to explain the principles of aerodynamics to novices, something you have built, findings from research, a look at new technologies– whatever lifts your wings!

Deadline: Friday, 8th July 2022

For more details and eligibility please visit: https://www.aerosociety.com/get-involved/young-persons-network/aerotube/

To enter please go to: https://forms.office.com/r/qY4DvQE8X9

29/03/2022

A loss of Control in Flight - 737 Max Case Study

Next Tuesday at 17:30!

Join Dr Mike Bromfield & Captain Nils Jamieson who will be discussing the contributory and causal factors of the two 737 Max accidents in 2018 & 2019, and what lessons have been learnt from them.

Please join the virtual lecture with the link below:
https://bit.ly/3NMnaqz

**Please note that we're continuing to experience difficulties with our webpage, however we hope to resolve them soon**

11/03/2022

LECTURE: Obtaining Operational Approvals of RPAS Operations utilised by NATO, by Jamie Sayer

~ Tuesday 15th March 2022 @17:30 ~

Join us next Tuesday for a fascinating brief on the "9 considerations" of safe RPAS operations, based upon findings from international NATO RPAS operations.

To find out more, please visit our website: https://tinyurl.com/2p9ys3jh
**Our website is currently down, we're working on getting it back up and running asap**

To watch the lecture, please click here: https://tinyurl.com/bdcpm6fj

14/02/2022

Register now for AeroChallenge 2022!

**** The Boscombe Down Branch is looking to enter a team for this virtual event, and will cover any reasonable expenses the team amasses. If you're interested in participating please email the branch or comment below! ****

9 March 2022 @17:30-19:30 GMT

Show off your aero knowledge and skills to battle it out for the coveted AeroChallenge trophy (and bragging rights!)

Join the RAeS Young Persons Committee's annual competition in teams or as an individual to test your knowledge of topics such as: the British aerospace industry, airlines and operations, space, and much more!

To enter, please visit the linked webpage below. The event is free to enter.

AeroChallenge 2022 Date & Time: 9 March 2022, 17:30 -19:30 (GMT) Format: Virtual Event This annual event organised by the RAeS Young Persons Committee is back! We ask students, apprentices and graduates to show off their aero knowledge and skills to battle it out for the coveted Aerochallenge trophy...