Royal Aeronautical Society Podcast

• An interview with Dr C G B (Kit) Mitchell FRAeS…. From Concorde undercarriages at the RAE and designing light aircraft to promoting of aviation history

  Former Royal Aircraft Establishment Officer Dr Kit Mitchell gives a detailed account of his aeronautical career, describing the key challenges he overcame to improve various aircraft, from Concorde to his own light aircraft. He starts off with one of his early achievements whilst still at Cranfield University where he solved the Morane-Saulnier Paris jet trainer's elevator flutter issue, an accomplishment that earned him and his supervisor a celebratory lunch in the Bois de Boulogne. After gaining experience with variable sweep aircraft at Vickers Armstrong in Weybridge, he joined the Royal Aircraft Establishment (RAE) Flutter and Vibration Division, where he harnessed the ever-increasing power of computers in the 1960s. His analysis of Concorde’s response to turbulence and runway conditions led to undercarriage improvements—enhancements that pilots told him 40 years later had made a significant difference. Starting In retirement, Kit played a key role in the newly-formed Farnborough Branch of the Royal Aeronautical Society and explains why the Society’s branches are of such importance to the aero community. He chaired the Society’s Historical Group, and set up and edited the Journal of Aeronautical History for a decade. Kit considers the journal a major milestone for the Society. The journal has ensured the publication of historical papers for both technical experts and aviation enthusiasts Kit also contributed to a school “build-a-plane” project through his connections with the Society. Reflecting on his career in aeronautical engineering and transport research, Kit values his work on Concorde’s success and takes great pride in his research into public transport, particularly developing the dial-a-bus service, which he found most enjoyable. Kit’s work on disability transport can also be heard in the podcast 'Making public transport disability-friendly the RAE way'. Kit Mitchell FRAeS was interviewed by Katrina Sudell as part of the Royal Aeronautical Society/National Aerospace Library’s oral history project ‘If I only didn’t do it that way…….” Capturing history from the horse’s mouth' to inspire today’s aeronautical professionals'. The recording was edited by edited by Eur Ing Mike Stanberry FRAeS. The transcript of the recording can be accessed on the National Aerospace Library's catalogue

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• AEROSPACE NOTAM - March 2025

  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, Jack Richardson analyse recent aviation, aerospace and space news - and preview the latest (March 2025) edition of the magazine. In this episode, we also have the Specialist Group Insight with Seth Moffat, Chair of the RAeS Flight Operations Group along with Capt Kimberly Coryat, who discuss women in aviation, progress made so far and barriers that female airline pilots still face. (Get in contact with FOG via [email protected]) Find out more at www.aerosociety.com

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• World Book Day 2025 - Keith Hayward on aircraft designers' memoirs

  If you were to choose your desert island book from the shelves of the National Aerospace Library, what would you choose? For World Book Day, the National Aerospace Library asked aviation historian and academic Prof. Keith Hayward FRAeS, to do just that. Find out why he chose the unpublished memoirs of two of Britain's great aircraft designers: W.E.W. Petter and Sir Freddie Page.

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• alta Mentoring - Intersectionality in Mentoring

  alta Mentoring is a free mentoring platform designed by women, for women working in the aerospace industry. alta users have access to training modules to support them in their mentoring journey. In this podcast, Prof. Susan Durbin, Alessandra Badino and Liz Mulhall discuss the latest module which is focused on Intersectionality.

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• Cansdale talks to…. Sir Donald Spiers HonFRAeS

  After their formal oral history interview, former MOD Director of Aircraft Sir Donald Spiers and former Royal Aircraft Establishment officer Roger Cansdale sat down to mull over the past and future of aviation. In their fascinating wide-ranging discussion, Roger and Donald swap stories on the closure of the RAE and its apprenticeship programme, successes of private venture aircraft, retiring at 60, dealing with interpreters, Donald’s national service, visiting Vietnam during the Vietnamese War, airships, Concorde, paying bonuses, converting the RAE runway into Farnborough International Airport and predictions on decarbonising aviation. Sir Donald Spiers HonFRAeS was interviewed by Roger Cansdale as part of the Royal Aeronautical Society/National Aerospace Library’s oral history project ‘If I only didn’t do it that way…….” Capturing history from the horse’s mouth' to inspire today’s aeronautical professionals'. The recording was edited by Eur Ing Mike Stanberry FRAeS & Tony Pilmer FRAeS.

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