Aerospace Insight Blog

Typhoon production line at Warton. (BAE Systems).

In 1947, D L Ellis, Chief Aerodynamicist of the English Electric Company, wrote to the Royal Aeronautical Society’s headquarters, suggesting “…that it would be an excellent thing to have a Branch of the Society in Preston.” This, the 19th Branch of the Society, was thus formed in August with much enthusiasm, with Lord George H Nelson of Stafford as President, W E W ‘Teddy’ Petter as Chairman, and Mr (later Sir) F W ‘Freddie’ Page, who later became President of the Branch and Chairman and Chief Executive, Aircraft Group, British Aerospace, among its committee members. The Branch opened with over 60 members and, with the headcount rising almost daily, this figure had reached 244 by March of the following year.

The Preston Branch has always recognised the importance of collaboration with other institutions and, over the years, has conducted joint events with professional bodies including the Institute of Welding, the Institution of Engineering and Technology and the English Electric Motor Club. Today, we still frequently hold joint events with, among others, the Manchester and Chester Branches of the Royal Aeronautical Society, the BAE Systems Heritage Department, the Institution of Engineering and Technology, the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, the North West Aerospace Alliance and the Air Training Corps.

The third Royal Aeronautical Society Branches Conference to be held away from Headquarters was hosted by the Preston Branch in 1961. Since then, we have also hosted the 1978 and 1999 Branches Conferences, and we hosted the 2007 Branches Conference in Liverpool in collaboration with the Chester and Manchester Branches.

In 2003, to celebrate 100 years since the Wright brothers’ first powered flight and 150 years since Sir George Cayley’s first glider flight, the Preston Branch joined the Chester and Manchester Branches in organising a special one-day seminar and dinner at Manchester Airport. On 2 November 2006, the Preston Branch again teamed with the Chester and Manchester Branches, this time to host the inaugural Annual Northern Aerospace Forum (ANAF), also in partnership with the Institution of Mechanical Engineers and the North West Aerospace Alliance. The ANAF has now become a popular yearly event and has meanwhile acquired additional continued participation from the Institution of Engineering and Technology.

Guests at the 2007 Sir Frederick W Page Lecture and Dinner (BAE Systems).

Between September 2007 and May 2008, the Preston Branch celebrated its 60th anniversary season, which incorporated the 60th anniversary of English Electric’s first test flight at Warton. Highlights of the season included three dedicated evening lectures held at Warton. The first of these lectures was held on 3 October, the Preston Branch’s official anniversary day. The Preston Branch also awarded a Life Membership to Frank Roe, former Managing Director, BAe Military Aircraft Division, and a member of the Branch since its opening.

As well as attending Branch-run events, members sometimes organise their own activities as well: we have had fell-walking trips to sites of wreckage from crashed WW2 aircraft; we had a visit to the Airbus A380 final assembly line in Toulouse in April 2006 and, since November 2004, we have spent annual holidays with Manchester Branch members at the Seattle Branch Joe Sutter Black Tie Dinner and Lecture and visited surrounding places of interest.

Today, the Branch holds about ten or more lectures every year and some four visits. The visits generally consist of one-day trips to aviation-related sites but there are also occasionalvisits to non-aviation sites, such as the National Motorcycle Museum, Solihull, and often a two-day aerospace trip with a night away.

Craig F Eckersley, CEng, MRAeS, IntPE

Branch history

Established         August 1947
First President   Lord George H Nelson of Stafford
First Chairman   W E W ‘Teddy’ Petter
Present size       177 active members (as of 12 April 2011)
Named lecture  Biennial Sir Frederick W ‘Freddie’ Page Lecture and Dinner, since 1981
Main venues      Personnel & Conference Centre, BAE Systems, Warton; and Canberra Club, BAE Systems, Samlesbury
(Prior registration with Hon Secretary required for non-Branch members)

 

Preston Branch Committee, 2012

President Chris G. Boardman, BSc
Chairman Graham Roe, IEng, MBIM, FRAeS
Deputy Chairman Dennis Morley, CEng, MRAeS
Hon Secretary Alan W Matthews, CEng, FRAeS
Hon Treasurer Mark A Potter, CEng, MRAeS
Visits Secretary Brian K Sargeant
Memb Secretary A David d’Arcy
Samlesbury Liaison Paul T Henshaw

Committee  Members   Alistair S Brown, ARAeS Craig F Eckersley, CEng, MRAeS, IntPE Guy N Hindley, MILT, FAPM John G Proctor