The Group also meets socially on a monthy basis
We meet on the fourth Wednesday of each month at 7:30pm for an 8:00pm start in the Royal Naval Association Club on Aerodrome Road (see separate page for directions) occasionally a change in start time or date is needed so please check the 'Programme of Talks' page
Most meetings include a guest speaker.
Your annual membership subscription of £30.00 includes the cost of the meetings.
Visitors are welcome but there will be an admission charge for them of £5.00 when a speaker is present.
The programme of speakers is below:
Forthcoming Talks
Our next talk to be held on 28th September at the RNA club is 'Flying the Vulcan - a personal perspective' by Squadron leader Joe Marsden.
Joe’s talk this time will concentrate on the Vulcan - illustrated by photos and film clips to show its capability. He will briefly cover the history of the Vulcan but will mainly talk about the personal aspects of flying this famous aircraft. He will cover crew responsibilities, preparation and the practicalities of the various roles he was involved in without missing the more light-hearted aspects of the job in a journey which took him from Cyprus in the East to Midway Island and Alaska in the West as well as up into the Arctic Circle to test Russian response.
In all Joe has flown 34 different Vulcan aircraft including XH558 which was flying until 2016, and XL426 which is at Southend Airport being kept in ground-running condition and to taxi it on occasions
Our following talk to be held on 26th October at the RNA club is 'Pilot Training during the Second World War' by David Biscoe.
David's talk follows the training of his father who was just one lad that saw his home City being bombed., Like many others at the age of eighteen he volunteered for the RAF. The talk uses an analogy of a staircase that led to flying, and describes what happed to his father as a volunteer, from attestation to flying Operations over occupied Germany as de Havilland Mosquito FBVI conducting night intruder operations. David follows his fathers progression and his training in Canada leading, to gaining his wings and being offered a commission. He was immediately selected to become a pilot instructor, still in Canada. Eventually, he was selected to convert to Mosquitos, and trained for squadron operational flying. David's talk uses original photos and examples of ‘Ground School’ notes. The talk ends with him joining No 605 (County of Warwick) Squadron and before he flying night time operations.
