Archived Future Event Items 2021

Events

On 8 December there is the 18th Xmas lunch at the YMCA Hawker; details, MUST be booked by 3rd December. There is not a committee meeting in the morning.

10 November Author Steve Philpott, who has worked at Hawkers, will talk on “Hawker Hurricane - dispelling historical myths of Hurricane vs Spitfire ” at the YMCA Hawker at 14:00; the meeting will also be available on Zoom. There will be a committee meeting at 11:00.

13 October  There will be a a meeting at 14:00 at the Hawker Centre. The 100th anniversary of Harry Hawker's untimely death; David Hassard will talk on  “The extraordinary life and career of Harry Hawker 1889 to 1921”. The meeting should also be available on Zoom. There will be a committee meeting in the morning at 11:00. Food is not available yet.

Good news the YMCA Hawker meeting venue is OPEN to us from October. We hope to be able to make some meetings also available on Zoom

15  September G-VTOL first flew on 16 September 1971. There is a 50th Anniversary Visit to G-VTOL at Brooklands Museum with a Programme of events for Hawker Association members starting at 10:30. Members will need to enter via the Mercedes Gate and pay the normal entry fee.

08 September Unfortunately the YMCA aren't ready. There wiil be no talk meeting or committee meeting at the Hawker Centre or by Zoom; they have been moved to 13 October.

The easing of Covid restrictions is very good news. On Wed 11 August there will be the Summer BBQ at the Hawker Centre, Richmond Road. This always enjoyable and friendly event will commence at 12.30 (note the earlier time). Book and pay Ken Batstone, by Saturday 1st August; details. This event offers the first opportunity for our Association Members and guests to gather together in person since 11 March 2020. There will NOT be a committee meeting in the morning.

14 July LEO “Lyons Electronic Office” the worlds first commercial computer - Neville Lyons. Zoom virtual meeting at 14:00. Neville served as a Regular Royal Signals Officer for 31 years followed by a second career as Executive of National and European Electronics Trade Associations. One of his retirement occupations has been researching his family history where he found proof of his relationship to Sir Joseph Lyons co-founder of J Lyons & Co, the giant catering company. Sir Joseph was a cousin to Neville`s grandfather and this led him to deeper research into the company`s history and the story of LEO. There will be a Zoom committee meeting at 11:00.

09 June At 14:00 Karl Smith will talk on “Aircraft Evolution” as a Zoom virtual meeting. He worked in the aircraft industry for 62 years. During his 2½ years in the Installations Department at HAL Kingston he witnessed the first tethered hover of the P.1127. His talk begins with the myth, legend and history of aviation. There will be a Zoom committee meeting at 11:00.

 12 May at 14:00 Rowland White, a best-selling author who writes about aviation, will talk about the 1982 air war in the South Atlantic as a Zoom meeting; there will be excerpts from his book that features the third Sea Harrier squadron NAS 809. Chris Farara gave a good review of the book in the Spring 2021 Newsletter Issue 59. There will be a Zoom committee meeting at 11:00.

14 April at 14:00 the AGM will be held as a Zoom meeting; the link was given in an email on 8 April. Following the AGM there will be a short talk by Colin Wilson, our President, about his art covering some of his aviation pictures and some of his other art of scenes in the UK and Japan There will be a Zoom committee meeting at 11:00.

10 March at 14:00 there will be a Zoom meeting/talk; Dick Poole will talk on “The Evolution of The Royal Club to the Present Day and Early Flying in Southern England”.

10 February at 14:00 a Zoom Forum gives a rare opportunity to hear three ex-Dunsfold Test Pilots, Chris Roberts, Heinz Frick and Bernie Scott, talk about some of their flying experiences, and answering questions on a variety of aspects related to their flying careers.  Feel free to ask questions about anything to do with Dunsfold test flying or about their experience before and after life as an Industrial Test Pilot. Bear in mind that much of the flying from Dunsfold was on non-test flying tasks like customer demonstrations, training, and ferrying.  Some of the ferry flights got very interesting to say the least! A link to join the meeting was given in emails sent to members on 2nd and 9th February.

13 January We held a successful first virtual meeting in November 2020, so we will have a second awker Association Zoom Htalk on Wednesday 13th January at 14:00. The speaker will be Committee member David Hassard talking about the 1919 Great Trans-Atlantic Air Race. The story of all 12 contenders including Hawker and Mackenzie Grieve in the Sopwith Atlantic, Rainham and Morgan in the Martinsyde Raymor, Alcock and Whitton-Brown in the Vickers Vimy and the US Navy Curtiss flying boats. The 'doors' will be open from 20 minutes before to allow time to get everybody in, so an early log-on will avoid the rush. Depending on the number joining you may be placed into a separate 'breakout room' so you can chat while others join. You will automatically be returned to the main meeting before it starts. There is a limit on the number of users so we will be taking pre-registrations from now up to and including Tuesday 12th January. An email with a registration link was sent to members on 1 January. If you have a problem please ring Richard on 01932 789936.

Unfortunately the YMCA Hawker Centre meeting venue is closed to us; all future activities, except for Zoom virtual meetings, and the BBQ, have been postponed or cancelled until further notice.

Guide to Virtual Meetings using Zoom