Our visiting speaker this week was Barry Thomlinson who told the history of the Royal Aircraft Establishment Bedford which was established in 1950 after the UK government decided in 1944 that new national aeronautical research facilities were required. Bedford was chosen as the most appropriate site for reasons including the availability of electrical power to drive the new wind tunnels, easy access to supersonic flying areas, and the existence of a skilled work force.

Five world-class wind tunnels were built, on the Twinwoods site just outside Bedford, to enable tests at low speeds and also at high Mach numbers. Bedford’s Thurleigh airfield, a former USAAF bomber base, was also re-built with a new main runway and other specialised research facilities, including naval catapults. From 1952, when the first wind tunnel starting running, to 2001, when the government re-organised defence aeronautical research, RAE Bedford was at the forefront of research in many fields, including operating jet aircraft from carriers, automatic landing in fog, the flying behaviour of vertical take off and landing aircraft, and the best configuration for the Concorde supersonic transport. To many working in the field, RAE Bedford was known as a centre of world wide aeronautical excellence.

(text from the Bedford Aeronautical Heritage Group’s website  http://www.bahg.org.uk)

The RAE “house” magazine was published monthly from March 1948 to the final (bi-monthly) issue of September/October 1991, when RAE ceased to exist, having transitioned to the Defence Research Agency. BAHG holds a complete set of RAE News in its archive.     http://bahg.org.uk

Don began by looking back at results from past years and how we had finished with regard to world wide entries and entries from Europe and the UK.

A review of equipment and logging software followed by a request for members to sign up for Friday setting up, operating during the contest and then packing up on the following Monday.

The current state of the operating rota can be seen under the ‘Contests’   tab on this website.

    On his third visit to the club, Former Air Vice Marshall Alan Merriman started by looking back to 1977 when it was felt that a more modern aircraft was needed to replace current models. Aware of the twenty years needed to bring a new aircraft on line, a plan was introduced to make use of the latest developments in composite construction, digital electronics and improved avionics. Cooperation with the various European agencies proved problematic at times, but several models were proposed and mocked up. The first flight of the Euro Fighter was in 1994 and the first Typhoon was delivered to the UK in 2006. The aircraft has since met or exceeded planned specifications.

Andrew Garrett, M0NRD presented part two of his talk about High Altitude Ballooning.

Last evening saw the return to regular meetings. There was good attendance and members took part in the ‘What did you do during the holiday’ session.  Some stories were quite humorous!

Next week our visiting speaker will give part two of his presentation about High Altitude Ballooning.

Mark began with a survey of members to find how many, the type and age of their meters after he said his presentation would detail multimeter types and uses, vintage examples from his collection, taking readings and understanding the uncertainty, ending with making and using precision references which he had brought to display.

Mark showed a few meters and how they should be used, followed with photos of several vintage models, dating from the nineteen twenties, including the fascinating ‘Pocket Watch’ model. He also showed photos of advertisements from the British Vintage Wireless Society and gave comparisons prices in today’s money which indicated they certainly were not inexpensive.

It was explained that even with today’s modern meters, it was necessary to understand the uncertainty of the readings. The list of parameters to assure the ‘goodness’ of readings included: Error, Validity, Reliability, Repeatability, Accuracy, Precision, and Resolution. Mark explained just what these terms meant. The first being: “In all measurements there is a certain degree of error present. An error is the deviation between the actual value of a measurand and the indicated value produced by a sensor or instrument used to measure the value. Error is inherent and is not the fault of the person making the measurement. Error is not the same as a mistake! Measurement error can be minimised by procedural methods.” (Joseph J Carr – Practical RF Test and Measurements: A Technicians Handbook)

Each of the remaining parameters was explained with the same thoroughness. Mark ended by detailing the precision references available commercially or to build and the members then had a chance to test their own meters.

This was the last meeting before the summer break. Regular meetings will resume on 13 September.

A very good turn out heard Brian Hawes tell of the progress in U.S. Photo Reconnaissance since the end of WW2.  Early information was gained by use of existing military aircraft, but the range and altitude was limited. In May 1960 the world became aware of the U2 aircraft when one was shot down by the Soviets.

From the U2 to some of the latest satellites, Brian detailed Photo methods and equipment. The earliest satellites using film were limited by the fact that the film had to be recovered from space and developed before intelligence could be gained. Once the film was used up, the satellite was allowed to burn up by falling to earth since it could not be reloaded! The advent of digital photography meant better photographs and near instant recovery of images.

While most of the information appears to be Top Secret, in fact, it has now been downgraded and is even being published in a Haynes Manual!

An 18:30 start saw a dozen members meet at the RSPB headquarters at Sandy for an evening tour of the grounds. Two guides divided the group in half  and each started off in a different direction. We were shown how areas of land are being managed to provide habitat for different birds and other animals. The tour guides provided a commentary as we spent the next hour and a half following trails finally returning back at the starting point

Martin (2E0HIQ) has successfully passed all the necessary exams and now holds the Full Callsign: M0XMP