On November 9th, in recognition of the 150th anniversary of the
founding of the Royal Aeronautical Society, Sir Donald Spiers CB,
addressed the Association on progress in aeronautical engineering in
that period.
Sir Donald started his engineering career in the Royal Engineers
then read Mechanical Sciences at trinity College, Cambridge.
Subsequently he became an apprentice with de Havilland Engines leading
to a position as a gas turbine development engineer. Moving to the Air
Ministry he was involved in the 1965 Kestrel Evaluation Squadron
trials. After a number of other operational research, trials and
analysis positions he was Assistant Chief Scientist to the RAF until
moving the MoD Procurement Executive to be the project director of the
Hawk, Jaguar, Tornado and Eurofighter programmes. Amongst other
important MoD positions he was Controller of Aircraft for six years. He
was also President of the RAeS and of the Popular Flying Association,
now the Light Aircraft Association.
So, What Have We Done Since 1866?
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Sir Donald started on what he called the ‘pre-history’ describing Sir
George Cayley’s prescient design of a ‘governable parachute’ which
incorporated the main features to be found in modern aircraft
configurations and which was towed into flight, with Cayley’s unhappy
coachman aboard, on July 5th, 1853. On January 12th 1866 the
Aeronautical Society was formed by the Duke of Argyll and five other
notables from the world of science, engineering and aviation. (In 1918
King George V would grant the Society its Royal prefix). A prize of
£1000 was offered for a flight by a mechanical machine but this was not
achievable. In 1875 Lord Kelvin stated “If you can’t measure it, you
can’t understand it”. Who would disagree with that - but he also said
“A heavier than air flying machine is impossible”! In 1894 Hiram Maxim
built a huge four ton steam powered flying machine intended to fly from
an 8 ft gauge track. This was not a success.
However, in Dayton, Ohio, two brothers, the sons of
a Bishop and owners of a bicycle shop, were designing and building a
manned glider which flew successfully in 1900. They then designed and
built their own four cylinder, water cooled petrol engine, which
weighed 179 lb and developed 12 hp at 1020 rpm. With this engine, on
December 17th 1903, Orville Wright achieved, at Kill Devil Hills in
North Carolina, man’s first sustained, controlled, powered flight. Four
flights were made that day, each brother taking turns, increasing the
duration from 12 seconds to 59 seconds. On the fourth flight the
aircraft was damaged and never flew again. The brothers received the
first Aeronautical Society gold medal in 1908.
The first sustained, controlled, powered flight in
England, by Samuel Franklin Cody, an American showman, did not take
place until October 1908. He received an Aeronautical Society silver
medal in 1909, the same year that ‘brave but incompetent’ Bleriot flew
across the English channel. Sadly, Cody was killed in 1913 when his
aircraft broke up and crashed. Howard Pixton won the 1914 Schneider
Trophy race at Monaco, flying a Sopwith Tabloid seaplane. This
outstanding design led to the Sopwith family of fighters, so successful
in WW I in which, initially aircraft were used for reconnaissance then
shooting, combat and bombing. Some 11,000 Sopwith aircraft were used in
the war by the RNAS, the RFC and the RAF. After the war Sopwith
Aviation was liquidated to pay excess profits tax but started again as
Hawker.
In the 1920s passenger flying got under way. The UK
Government light aircraft trials Lympne were won by the de Havilland
Hummingbird which was not a success commercially but led to the Moth
family including the Tiger Moth. The 1934 MacRobertson
England-Australia air race was won by the de Havilland Comet racer but,
more importantly, a production Douglas DC 2 airliner of KLM came
second. In the ’20s and ’30s Imperial Airways flew European and Empire
routes with British airliners including Handley Page HP 42s and Short
flying boats. These luxurious aircraft were built in only small numbers.
The RAF was biplane equipped in the 1930s but the
monoplane Supermarine S.6B, which won the Schneider Trophy outright in
1931, showed that monoplanes were the way ahead leading to the
Spitfire. Hawker produced the Hurricane and because the Company started
production ahead of a Government contract there were enough fighters to
win the battle of Britain in 1940. During WW II many aircraft types
were produced in huge numbers for all purposes; bombers, fighters,
flying boats, transports, specialist types, etc. In 1939 the RAeS had
moved from Albemarle Street to 4 Hamilton place where it remains
today.
Frank Whittle designed his jet engine which was to
revolutionise aviation. The experimental Whittle powered Gloster E28/39
flew in May 1941. Production jet fighters followed; the DH vampire, the
Gloster Meteor. Faster aircraft were developed including Hawker’s
Hunter and the English Electric Lightning and the three (!) ‘V’
bombers. The civil turboprop Vickers Viscount was a commercial success
but early DH Comet’s fatigue problems blighted its prospects.
Outstanding technical achievements were the American
Boeing 747 capable of carrying passengers and freight, and the Mach 2
Anglo-French Concorde. The latter made its last flight 100 years after
Wilbur Wright first flew. Outstanding military aircraft technical
achievements were the Lockheed SR-71 strategic reconnaissance aircraft
of 1964 which could over-fly the Soviet Union at 85,000 ft and speeds
higher than Mach 3; uncatchable, and the first truly stealthy aircraft,
Lockheed’s 1977 F-117. Bert Rutan’s tandem twin-engined Voyager flew
round the world, unrefuelled and non-stop, in 1986 taking nine days. It
cruised on the 117 hp rear engine burning just 3 gallons of fuel per
hour.
In the early days of aviation pilots followed the
railways but now we have inertial systems and satellite navigation.
Britain’s primary airports in the 1930s were Croydon and Heston with a
flying boat base at Southampton. Planning a new London Airport started
in 1943 with Heathrow the chosen location. It opened for civil
operations in 1946 with prefab huts; now there are five splendid
terminals. The controversial decision to build a third runway has been
taken, but…..Farnborough houses a large, modern business and VIP
airport. BOAC was formed in 1939, BEA in 1946 using Northolt.
The world’s first aircraft manufacturer was Short
Bros who in 1909 built six Wright Flyers under licence. The Hon CS
Rolls bought one for £1,000, over £100,000 today. The engine cost £400,
Shorts got £200 and the Wright’s fee was £400. Rolls got Aero Club
certificate No.2 then sold his aircraft to the government for £1000!
Before WWI aircraft manufacture was a craft process, the workers doing
whatever job was needed. In 1914 mass production stated with workers
doing a specific, repeated task. In WWII skilled craftsmen performed
these tasks. In the 1950s a Hunter cost £100,000, by the 1980s the cost
of a fighter had risen to £20m (equivalent to 200 Spitfires). Today’s
Typhoons cost £50m each and F-35s are £100m a copy.
To conclude the speaker told the meeting about John
and Christine Delaney, from Adelaide, Australia, who, using original
drawings from the Smithsonian, built in a year, a replica Wright Flyer
powered by a 12 hp VW engine. It had four small wheels on its skids for
compatibility with the runway. It made one flight, on February 9th
2004, lasting 8 seconds. This is the most successful Flyer replica
flight.
After some questions the vote of thanks for this enthralling talk was given by Martin Pennell.