Monday 29th July - 1900 for 1945 - ‘Air Defence of the UK since 1940 – the Evolution of RADAR and Tactics to the Present Day’ and ‘Bloodhound – The Cold War Surface to Air Missile’. Presented by Sqn Ldr Joe Marsden.
Sqn Ldr Joe Marsden returns to Air ACES to give some more of his very interesting talks.
His first talk is about the early days in the Battle of Britain, up until today’s high technology fighters, including the need for tactical assistance from the ground. Joe covers the role of the Fighter Controller and the advances in technology which allow aircraft to be put into winning positions in an air battle. This story will be from the time of the Spitfire to the F35 Lightning II, and from Chain Home to the digital Air Defence Systems today.
Joe’s second talk explains about Bloodhound, a supersonic long range missile, protecting the UK against enemy aircraft attacks. This illustrated talk, using pictures and videos, will cover the history and capabilities of the system, including developments and upgrades which kept it in service from the 1960s until 1999.
Monday 19th August - 1900 for 1945 - ‘The British Airliner Collection at Duxford’ presented by David Norman.
The British Airliner Collection is the world’s premier collection of post second World War British civil airliners and illustrates the unique contribution made by British designers and manufacturers to the development of commercial aviation.
Several of these aircraft were world firsts and two are the only known surviving examples of their type.
The collection began in 1974 with the arrival of a Comet 4, which, in 1958, was the aircraft that made the first scheduled Eastbound transatlantic crossing by a jet airliner. The collection has grown to 13 aircraft, including Concorde 101. The aircraft displayed range from a De Havilland Dove that first flew in 1948, to the more recent acquisition, a BAE 146 (whisper jet), retired from the Royal Squadron.