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The ultimate test of the great powers’ pilots, aircraft and powerplants in the interwar period, the Schneider Trophy seaplane contest pushed forward aviation design to new heights and directly led to the Spitfire and Merlin engine.

W. Cox, a member of the trophy winning Supermarine team, takes us through each contest, starting with the pre-World War II contests and highlights how the key technological developments in aircraft design were represented in the race.

Please note, due to the age of this recording, there are periods of poor sound quality.

W. Cox addressed a meeting organised by the Royal Aeronautical Society’s Historical Group on 12 October 1965. The lecture was introduced by J. L. Nayler FRAeS FAIAA, the recording was digitised thanks to a grant from the RAeS Foundation and the podcast was edited by Eur Ing Mike Stanberry FRAeS.

In this podcast series from the Royal Aeronautical Society's monthly AEROSPACE magazine, Editor in Chief Tim Robinson, Deputy Editor Stephen Bridgewater and Features Editor Bella Richards analyse recent aviation, aerospace and space news - and preview the next (April 2024) edition of the magazine. Find out more at www.aerosociety.com

After being redeployed from Unilever to a small firm just outside Rugby in May 1940, Bob Feilden played a key role in the development of Whittle’s jet engine, working with his colleagues to transform the jet from theory into practice.

Starting with the early history of Whittle’s jet engine and its early testing, Feilden takes us inside the firm to give us a first-hand account of the jet’s flight trials, in the Gloster E28/39 and how they overcame the technical challenges to develop the W1 engine into the W2, W2/500 and W2/700.

Feilden also explores how the firm looked to make the engine fit for the ill-fated Miles M52, the plans for the LR1 Turbofan, the relationship between Power Jets and Rolls-Royce and how the team broke up in 1946 after nationalisation.

The lecture was also published as a Hodgson Prize winning paper for the Aeronautical Journal in February 1993. Royal Aeronautical Society members can access the paper for free via www.aerosociety.com/elibrary.

G. B. R. Feilden addressed a meeting organised by Rolls-Royce Heritage Trust in 1992. The recording is © The Rolls-Royce Heritage Trust • All right reserved, it was digitised thanks to a grant from the RAeS Foundation and the podcast was edited by Eur Ing Mike Stanberry FRAeS.

In this 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 spaceflight news - and preview the next (March 2024) edition of the magazine. Find out more at www.aerosociety.com

AEROSPACE Editor-in-Chief Tim Robinson and Deputy Editor Stephen Bridgewater sum up the 2024 Singapore Air Show

RAF turned Imperial Airways pilot, Captain Parker, gives us a flavour of what life was like working for Imperial in the 1930s. He tells us about operating the Handley Page HP.42 and recounts a story of being stranded in the desert after an aircraft was forced down. After flying landplanes he was transferred to seaplanes and gives us insights into life operating flying boats before and after the Second World War.

Captain Parker 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.