(Updated 1st January, 2009)
About the Rossendale Aviation Society
The Rossendale Aviation Society is probably the largest and most active organisation for aviation enthusiasts in Lancashire, with about 80 registered members from the Lancashire / Yorkshire / Greater Manchester area of the UK.
Meetings are held fortnightly, usually on the first and third Wednesdays of each month at the Haslingden Cricket Club, Haslingden, Rossendale, Lancs., starting at 8 pm. The venue is within easy reach of the M60, M62, M65 and M66 motorways. (For details of how to find us, click here).
The society caters for a wide range of aviation interests, including:-
Lectures,
Slide Shows
and
Film/Video Shows,
by guest speakers and members;
Organised
trips
to Air Shows, Aircraft factories, Aviation
Museums
and Airports;
Aircraft
recognition contests,
Aviation knowledge quizzes,
annual Photographic and Model
competitions
to sharpen
your skills;
Both
Civil
and Military
aviation
interests are catered for;
Regular
Newsletters,
giving future programme details, trip reports, book reviews, airfield movements
etc;
Regular
'E' newsletter (distributed by e-mail) 'RAS military
updates, news and review';
The
Society maintains a forum on Yahoo
for the benefit
of members with Internet access.
The current meetings programme is as follows:
|
Next Meeting |
|
|
7th January 2009
|
'Annual General Meeting and Model (Aircraft) Competition (see below for further information)
|
|
Next
four meetings
|
|
| 7th January 2009 |
Annual General
Meeting and Model (Aircraft) Competition The AGM will take its usual form, with a pie and peas supper for all attendees. For further information (AGM), please contact the Society Secretary, Chris Wood. The model competition will be organises as in previous years. For information on the type and number of entries, and how to enter, please see page two of the December Newsletter.
|
|
21st January 2009
|
To be updated early January 2009 |
|
4th February 2009
|
To be updated early January 2009 |
|
18th February 2009
|
To be updated early January 2009 |
|
|
|
|
Historical evenings
|
|
|
19th July 2006
|
'Annual Recognition Competition' by Martin Powell The winner of this years competition was Bob Fairclough.
|
|
2nd August 2006
|
'Military Aviation in the Fylde in Wartime' by Russell Brown
|
|
16th August 2006
|
'Backtracking' by Gordon Bartley A look back at various aviation events in the late 1980s and early 1990s, including photo-calls and ACMI detachments at RAF Waddington, the opening of the Grippen Centre at Satenas, Paris, Dubai and Berlin Air Shows, and RAF Anniversaries at Kinloss and Linton-on-Ouse.
|
|
6th September 2006
|
Barry Colquhoon - Adobe Photoshop Barry Colquhoon is a member of Lytham St Annes Photographic Society and expert in the use of Adobe Photoshop. Tonight he will be giving a presentation on the uses (including demonstrations) of the software, especially when enhancing your digital photographs. This evening is really recommended and guaranteed to keep you entertained throughout.
|
|
20th September 2006 |
'50 Years of US Air Force Aircraft 1947 - 1997' by Harry Holmes Harry Holmes has been an aircraft enthusiast for very many years and has a large and varied collection of slides, including much unique material.
|
|
4th October 2006 |
A presentation by John Lawson, Harrier Test Pilot at BAe Systems, Warton John is a test pilot at BAe Systems Warton, where he mainly flies the Harrier. Tonight he will bring us up to date on the present and future use of this famous aircraft.
|
|
18th October 2006 |
'A Busmans Holiday to South Africa and Dubai' by Mike Lynam Mike Lynam takes a slightly different look at the TAS trip to South Africa and Dubai in 2004
|
|
1st November 2006
|
'Military Miscellany at Manchester Airport' by Alan Scholefield Our favourite aviation historian, in the Manchester area, returns to continue the story of 'Ringway' Airport. Alan will tonight tell us about the smaller military units based there and the variety of military aircraft visiting over the years.
|
| 15th November 2006 |
'A Lancaster Evening' hosted by Harry Holmes Our well-known Avro Historian, Harry Holmes, will tonight tell us about the famous Avro Lancaster. In addition, we intend to display Lancaster photographs, slides, models and videos, along with a display of books on the aircraft. (If any member can offer suitable material for this evening, would they please contact Harry Holmes or Martin Powell). To view a selection of photos taken during the evening, please click here.
|
| 6th December 2006 |
'Early History of English Electric Aircraft' by Brian Tomlinson Brian is a member of the North-West Heritage Group at BAe Systems, at Warton (successors to English Electric). He will describe how English Electric and its predecessor companies got into aircraft work before WW1 and continued after the war with flying-boats and the tiny Wren ultra-light aircraft.
|
| 20th December 2006 |
'Photographic Competition - Slides' The competition will take its usual form, there being two classes; 'Flying' and 'Ground'. There is a Society trophy for the winner of each class. Entries will be judged by our expert visiting judge, Gordon Bartley (ARPS). For further information and how to submit entries, please click here To view a selection of photos taken during the evening, please click here.
|
| 10th January 2007 |
'Annual General Meeting and Photographic Competition - Prints' The AGM will take its usual form, with a pie and peas supper for all attendees. For further information (AGM), please contact the Society Secretary, Chris Wood. For further information on the photographic completion and how to submit entries, please click here
|
| 24th January 2007 |
'Model Competition ' and 'European Sortie 2006' by Marin Powell The model competition will be organises as in previous years. For information on the type and number of entries, and how to enter, please see page two of the December Newsletter. Martin will show us slides taken on his recent trip to the Netherlands, Germany and the Czech Republic.
|
| 7th February 2007 |
'Douglas DC-4 Skymaster' by Alan Scholefield Our favourite aviation historian returns to tell a storey rather different to his usual Manchester oriented subjects. The DC-4 was the first of the really modern airliners after WW2 and was the foundation stone of many of the big airliners today.
|
| 21st February 2007 |
'Seventies Nostalgia' by David Blades David Blades will get the memory banks working with a selection of his slides taken in the U.K. during the nineteen seventies.
|
| 7th March 2007 |
'Nimrod MRA.4' by Squadron Leader Drew Steel, RAF Drew has told us about the Nimrod MRA.4 project on several previous visits, from concept to early development. The project is now proving to be very successful and the contract for the full production aircraft has been placed with BAe Systems. Drew, who is based at Warton, will update us about the project, in his clear and very professional manner.
|
| 21st March 2007 |
'Aviation Brain of Rossendale' by Ivor Tamplin Join us for the 2007 'Aviation Brain of Rossendale'.
|
| 4th April 2007 |
'RAF Shawbury and the Assault Glider Project' by Squadron Leader Martin Locke Tonight we give a very warm welcome to Squadron Leader Martin Locke. Please join us for what should be an excellent and informative evening.
|
| 18th April 2007 |
'Travellers Tales 2006' By Paul Isherwood and Jim Newton Two of our most travelled members will entertain us tonight with images and incidents from their journeys in 2006. Jim Newton will start the evening with a digital presentation covering his visits to the USA and Germany. After the break Paul will show slides if his visit to China and then back to Jim to finish the evening with images of his trip to the Balkans.
|
| 2nd May 2007 |
'Air Traffic Control' by Steve Balfour
|
| 16th May 2007 |
Members slide evening - Chris Eaton and Chris Wood Tonight we give a warm welcome to two of our members, Chris Eaton and Chris Wood, Please join us for what should be a very good slide presentation.
|
| 6th June 2007 |
'North-West Aircraft Wrecks: New insights into dramatic last flights' by Nick Wotherspoon
|
| 20th June 2007 |
'Aircraft old and new'
by Ian Brown Tonight Ian will show us some slides from his collection, old and new, including a selection from his more recent travels.
|
| 4th July 2007 |
'Grumpy old men of a
certain age' Three of our present and former members, Phil Blinkhorn, Martin Powell and Ivor Tamplin, will discuss the past, illustrated with slides. They have reached the age when they all have strong opinions, and of course the good old days were definitely the best !!
|
| 18th July 2007 |
'The Royal Navy
Historic Flight' by John Phillips One of our new members , John is a former member of the Fleet Air Arm, and is currently a member of the Royal Navy Historic Flight. For the first part of this evenings programme, John will give a presentation on the 'Flight' and its aircraft. 'Sweden 2007' by Martin Powell For the second part of the evening, Martin will show images from his recent visit to Sweden, including some aviation museums.
|
| 1st August 2007 |
'Tester Zero One' by
Wing Commander Robby Robinson Tonight we give a very warm welcome to Wing Commander Robby Robinson, who will be giving a presentation on his career as a Test Pilot at Boscombe Dow.
|
| 15th August 2007 |
'The Balkans and
beyond' by Jim Newton Jim will continue where he left off in May, with photos and stories of his travels in the Balkans and further afield.
|
| 5th September 2007 |
'Airline Captain' by
Captain John Rathbone John Rathbone, brother of member Colin Rathbone, recently retired after a long career with British Airways. John learnt to fly with the Yorkshire University Air Squadron , whilst a student at the University of York. He then joined BEA and trained as a commercial pilot at the Oxford Air Training School. John went on to fly a number of aircraft types with both BEA and British Airways, eventually captaining the Boeing 747-400. Tonight should be a fascinating evening.
|
| 19th September 2007 |
'Annual Recognition
Competition' by Bob Fairclough Last year's winner Bob Fairclough presents this year's competition. This will be followed by a selection of slides from Bob's recent travels, including some from his many visits to Canada.
|
| 3rd October 2007 |
'Emirates Airline'
by Laurie Berryman Laurie Berryman is the North of England Sales Manager for Emirates and tonight will update us on progress and future development of the Airline.
|
| 17th October 2007 |
'Members Slide
Evening'
|
| 7th November 2007 |
'Ringway Air
Transport 1938 - 1959' by Alan Scholefield We know Alan very well as the historian of Aviation in the Manchester Area. Tonight he returns to tell us about another topic that he has researched, no doubt with his usual thoroughness and many rare photographs.
|
| 21st November 2007 |
'Tribute to Paul
Isherwood' The content of this evening is being organised and co-ordinated by Martin Powell and consequently, anyone who can make a contribution to this evening should contact Martin as soon as possible. Paul organised many excellent visits in the years he was 'visits' organiser, photographs taken on these visits could be included in the tribute to Paul.
|
 'Tribute to Paul Isherwood'
Paul Isherwood (centre), receiving from Gordon Bartley, the trophy for winning the 2006 Society Photographic Competition (Slide/Air).
|
|
| 5th December 2007 |
'Aircrew
Experiences' - by Garth Dawson Tonight we welcome Garth Dawson who will tell us of his wartime experiences as a Wireless Operator, mainly flying in Wellingtons of Coastal Command. Garth, now retired, is a well known professional photographer and was formerly the proprietor of the Garth Dawson Studio in Accrington. He is currently the Competitions Secretary of the Accrington Camera Club.
|
| 19th December 2007 |
'Annual
Photographic Competition' - Digital Images For further information, please click here.
|
| 9th January 2008 |
'Annual
General Meeting and 'Photo Prints Competition' The AGM will take its usual form, with a pie and peas supper for all attendees. For further information (AGM), please contact the Society Secretary, Chris Wood. For further information on the Photo Prints Competition, please click here.
|
| 23rd January 2008 |
'Model
Competition and Members Slides (Paul Henshaw)' The model competition will be organises as in previous years. For information on the type and number of entries, and how to enter, please see page two of the December Newsletter. Paul will show us images taken on his 2007 travels.
|
| 6th February 2008 |
'60 Years of
Flight Testing at Warton' - by Dennis Morley Dennis is Head of the Flight Test Department at Warton. Dennis is a very entertaining lecturer and has prepared this presentation to mark the 60th Anniversary of the start of flight testing by English Electric, at Warton, in 1947.
|
| 20th February 2008 |
'Royal Review
of the Royal Air Force 1977' - by David Blades David Blades will tonight show us a selection of slides from the 1970s, the main feature being the Royal Review of the RAF held at RAF Finningley in 1977. David is well known for his large collection of military aircraft slides, especially of the RAF.
|
| 5th March 2008 |
Parachute Training
and Gliding Development at Ringway 1940 - 1945' - by Alan
Scholefield Our regular guest, Alan Scholefield, returns with another chapter in the fascinating history of 'Ringway'.
|
| 19th March 2008 |
'USA and Canada -
2006/7' - by Bob Fairclough Tonight we welcome Bob Fairclough, who will give a presentation on two recent visits to both the USA and Canada.
|
| 2nd April 2008 |
'Buccaneer
- the last British Bomber?' - by Neville Beckett Tonight we welcome Neville Beckett who was involved in the design and development of the Buccaneer.
|
| 16th April 2008 |
''Members
Photo Night' Content to be confirmed.
|
| 7th May 2008 |
'India
on a Bike' - by Glenn Wheeler Guest Glenn Wheeler will tonight tell us about a recent 'adventure' to India, using his bike!
|
| 21st May 2008 |
'Aviation Brain of
Rossendale 2008' Cancelled - as a result of expected interest in the Champions League Final - between Manchester United and Chelsea. The competition will be organised for a future date.
|
| 4th June 2008 |
'Lakes Lightning's'
- by Neil Airey Tonight we welcome Neil Airey to the Society who will tells us about his collections of Lightning's and Lightning cockpits – and a Harrier and Hunter as well! Neil is a former RAF pilot whose day job is flying the North West Air Ambulance. He is also chief pilot of ‘Huey’ 72-21509 (G-UHIH) and his talk will touch on these activities. It promises to be a very enjoyable evening so do not miss it. For some notes on Neil’s career see his profile under the Team tab at http://www.huey.co.uk/
|
| 18th June 2008 |
'A visit to Central
America' by Chris Walkden and Paul Watson Chris and Paul joined the Alpha Mike Tours visit to Central America in November 2007. Tonight they will recount their adventures to us. The countries visited were Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, and Venezuela – It all sounds a bit Spanish to me so bring your sombreros for an entertaining evening.
|
| 2nd July 2008 |
'Aviation Brain of
Rossendale 2008' by Martin Powell Our annual quiz is presented by last years winner, Martin Powell, who has changed the format this year to widen the appeal of the event.
|
| 16th July 2008 |
'Images from New
Zealand' by Andy Heap Any was a member of the Society before he went to live in New Zealand. Now on a visit back home, he will tonight show us more of New Zealand and its aviation. On a previous visit to the Society, he had a most interesting storey and excellent photos.
|
| 6th August 2008 |
'Concorde' by Gordon
Bartley Gordon is one of the permanent team of guides for the visitors to the Concorde display at Manchester Airport. Tonight he will tell us about the Concorde project, illustrated with his usual high standard of photography.
|
| 20th August 2008 |
'Members Slide/Photo
Evening' Content to be confirmed in the near future.
|
|
3rd September 2008
|
'History of the
Aircraft Carrier' - by Dr. Eric Grove Tonight our guest is Dr. Eric Grove, Professor of Naval History at the University of Salford, who will address us on the History of the Aircraft Carrier. Eric Grove is a leading authority on the history of naval power and during a varied career has taught at the Royal Naval College, Dartmouth, the Royal Naval College, Greenwich, and several universities. He has had several books published including ‘From Vanguard to Trident’ the standard work on post-1945 British naval policy, and ‘The Price of Disobedience’, a study of the Battle of the River Plate. Do not to miss this presentation which is sure to be most interesting and informative.
|
| 17th September 2008 |
'Annual Recognition
Competition 2008' - by Paul Henshaw Tonight, Paul Henshaw, Hon. Society Chairman, presents this year's Recognition Competition. The competition will be followed by a selection of slides of 'Aircraft at Manchester Airport in the Nineties' by Chris Wood.
|
| 1st October 2008 |
'Vulcan - Return to
the Skies' - by Bob Hallam Our guest, Rob Hallam, was the director and producer of the television programme, 'Vulcan - Return to the Skies', made for the Discovery Channel and tonight will tell us how the programme was made.
|
| 15th October 2008 |
'Canada' - by Jim
Newton Another excellent selection of images from our much-travelled member, who has been on a recent visit to Canada.
|
| 5th November 2008 |
'The Role of the
Royal Air Force and Military Low Flying' by Carol Bell Our guest, Carol Bell, is the Regional Community Relations Officer (Cumbria and Tynedale) for the Royal Air Force. Carol is an excellent presenter and we are promised a very informative evening.
|
|
19th November 2008
|
'Organising the
Royal International Air Tattoo' - by Richard Arquati and Ian Revell Tonight we welcome Richard Arquati (Head of Press and Public Relations) and Ian Revell (member of the air traffic control team) at the Royal International Air Tattoo, who will this evening give us a presentation about the annual Air Tattoo. The presentation will look at the RAF Charitable Trust Enterprises, the Air Tattoo in general, the build up to this summer's airshow and circumstances leading to its cancellation, a perspective from an air-trafficker, a look at plans for 2009 and finally, concluding with a question and answer session.
|
|
3rd December 2008
|
'The History of
Aircraft Preservation in the U.K.' - by Ken Ellis A welcome return to the Society by Ken Ellis, editor of both FlyPast magazine and Wrecks and Relics, who will relate the chequered storey of Aircraft Preservation in the U.K.
|
|
12th December 2008
|
'Annual
Photographic Competition' - Digital 'projected' Images For further information, please click here.
|
| All Society meetings are held at Haslingden Cricket Club, starting at 20:00 hours. Please try to arrive by about 19:45 hours, so that you can visit the bar and help set-up the room. Meetings normally finish by about 22:30 hours. | |
For articles and reports of some previous meetings and trips, click here
The Society runs a regular programme of trips to a range of sites of interest in the UK throughout the year, including air bases, aircraft factories, airports, air displays, historic aircraft collections and museums. These trips are normally restricted to members of the Society and are notified at meetings and also via the Society's bi-monthly Newsletter.
In addition the Society organises an annual coach trip to the Royal International Air Tattoo which is also open to members of the public. This trip picks up at a number of locations in East Lancashire and Greater Manchester on the Friday evening, traveling overnight and arriving at the venue early Saturday morning for a full day at the Tattoo. As the Society normally only aims to cover its costs on this trip, it is a particularly cost effective way of attending RIAT for enthusiasts in the NW area of England. To make a reservation on this years trip, please click on the link below and complete the application form.
The
2009 coach trip to the Royal International Air Tattoo, at Fairford, will be
advertised next Spring (2009).
|
Drew Steel reports on progress with the Nimrod Mark 4 programme at BA Systems, Warton.
|
|
|
Martin Powell undertakes here to compile a list of all surviving Mustangs in Europe. This list will be updated as more information becomes available to him.
|
|
|
In this article Martin Powell traces the history of the Douglas Thor ICBM in service with the RAF from 1958 to 1963
|
|
|
Tom Dugdale’s flying career in the RAF commenced in WWII and continued until his retirement from the service in 1960. In this period he flew a considerable number of aircraft, ranging from the DH Tiger Moth biplane to Vickers Valiant jet bombers and Gloster Javelin delta wing fighters. This meeting report summarises his talk to the Society. |
Membership is invited from Aviation enthusiasts in NW England. Please download, print off and complete the Membership Subscription Form and return it with the appropriate subscription to the address stated on the form, or just bring it along to any of our meetings and contact our Chairman, Secretary or Treasurer.
Annual subscription rates:
Associate
members £16
(For
those living outside a 30 mile radius of Rawtenstall, Rossendale)
Junior
members £15 (Under
18 - Parental permission is required)
|
RAS Member's Sites |
||
|
|
Tony's website contains photos taken at a number of UK air events in the 50s, 80s, 1990 and 2000. |
|
|
Enthusiast Sites |
||
|
|
The UK's most extensive aviation links site |
|
|
|
The Manchester Branch of Air Britain |
|
| Air Radio UK | The web-site of Air Radio UK | |
|
|
The Air Yorkshire Aviation Society (meeting at Leeds/Bradford International Airport) |
|
| The Assault Glider Trust | The web site of the RAF Shawbury - Assault Glider Trust | |
| Avro Lancashire | The web-site of Avro Lancashire | |
| British Aircraft Preservation Council | The web-site of the British Aircraft Preservation Council | |
| Buccaneer | Andy Brook's Buccaneer pages | |
| Flight History | This site is dedicated to capturing aviation history and feature a growing collection of photographs, stories, aircraft specifications and aviation artwork. | |
| Flighline UK | UK Airshow Information and Photography | |
| JetPhotos.Net | Online aircraft photo database | |
| Lancashire Aircraft Investigation Team | The Lancashire Aircraft Investigation Team | |
| Lowdown | How to get information on the UK low flying areas, vantage viewing points, scanner frequencies, etc | |
| Lowfly.net | Home for the low flying photographer | |
| Manchester TMA Over-flights Group | Manchester TMA over-flights group - everything you need to know about over-flights | |
| Milavia | Military Aviation Photography and Journalism | |
| Pacific Wings | Pacific Wings Magazine | |
| P-3 Orion Research Group | Lockheed P-3 Orion Research Group | |
| Royal Air Force Squadron Histories | Royal Air Force Squadron Histories - Official Mod/RAF Site | |
|
|
The most comprehensive European Military Aviation information database and news service |
|
|
|
The Aviation Society (Manchester) |
|
| UK Military Serial Numbers | UK military aircraft serial numbers - WA - WZ, XA - XY and ZA - ZZ | |
| USAF/US Army Serial Numbers | Joseph Baugher excellent USAF/US Army serial listings - 1908 to present | |
| US Navy /US Marine Corps Serial Numbers | Joseph Baugher excellent US Navy / US Marine Corps serial and bureau number listing - 1911 to present | |
| Warplane.co.uk | The original and best low-level photography site in the UK | |
|
Museums / Airfields / Airports etc. |
||
|
|
Our local mecca for civil enthusiasts |
|
|
|
Information on the Abingdon Air Fayre 2006 |
|
|
|
Our 'almost' local mecca for military enthusiasts |
|
|
|
The Imperial War museum Airfield at Duxford, Cambridgeshire |
|
|
|
The RAF Museum home page provides links to the RAF Museums at Hendon and Cosford |
|
|
|
The Yorkshire Air Museum at Elvington, York |
|
|
|
The famous UK 'Cold War' Jets collection |
|
|
|
Site dedicated to returning XH 558 to flying status |
|
|
|
Southend Air Museums Vulcan |
|
|
Commercial |
||
|
|
Scanners, Air Band Frequency lists etc. |
|
| Flying-Art | Flying Art Digital Illustrations - by Andrew Hay | |
|
|
The Aviation Voucher Specialist - Visit this site if you're interested in any type of aerial activities, from Ballooning to flying Fast Jets! |
|
|
|
The World's No.1 supplier of Aviation Models |
|
|
|
The monthly UK Aviation magazine |
|
| Rossendale online | Rossendale Online Website | |
| UK-Airport-News.Info | UK Airport News | |
Do you know of any UK aviation enthusiast WWW sites to add to the list? If so please Email details to RAS Webmaster
