OFFICE BEARERS

CHAIRMEN (Shared)

Maurice Shepherd (Jan-Jun)
Tel.  01334 656536

Ron Campbell (Jul –Dec)
Tel. 01592 761852

CHAIRMAN Designate 2023

David Galloway
Tel.  01337 831257

SECRETARY
Allan Black
Tel. 01334 653754

TREASURER
Peter Speirs
Tel. 01334 652866

COMMITTEE MEMBERS
John Topliss

SPEAKERS TEAM
Ron Campbell
John Davie

TALK RECORDERS
David Cleland
John Davie
Mike Edwards
Colin Moore

ZOOM CHAT

ZOOM CHAT

10.00am Wednesday

31st August 2022

ZOOM CHAT

10.00am Wednesday

7th September 2022

LIVE TALK MEETING

Castlehill Community Hall

 9.50am Wednesday

14th September 2022

'John Cowperthwaite and Hong Kong Economics'

Duncan Pickard

MEMBERS PAGE

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CLUB NEWS

Our tenth live meeting of the year took place in Castlehill Community Centre on 10 August. Chairman, Ron Campbell, opened the meeting and welcomed our speaker, Ian Lindsay, to talk on “British Aviation”. This was a return visit for Ian Lindsay. His last talk to Cupar Probus was in May 2021 - and by Zoom, so it was nice to meet with him at this live meeting today. Ian is from Leven - born in Stirling, and has been interested and involved with aircraft since a teenager.

Allan Black

"British Aviation"

Chairman Ron introduced our guest speaker. This was Ian Lindsay. His subject for today was “The History of Post War Aviation.” In his opening remarks Ian rebranded the talk title as, “The Take Off and Landing of British Aviation.”

Ian began by explaining that with the advent of World War Two, companies in Great Britain were market leaders in aviation. Before the war airplanes were mainly propeller driven and built from wood and canvas. The war had stimulated invention and brought forward great innovation. After the war there was a real opportunity for development. This though came with austerity and government meddling in decision making. Firstly, Ian took us through military aviation development.

The Meteor and Vampire jet planes led the way. These broke official speed records and sold well across the world. The British government made a great mistake by gifting jet technology to the Russians. The Russians had been our war allies but soon became adversaries. This mistake cost Britain its technological lead in jet engines.

Ian then took us through the various fighter planes coming into service in chronological order ending with the V Force aircraft. He gave us an interesting and detailed account of the pros and cons of the Valiant, Vulcan and Victor crafts. He then brought us up to date talking about the Harrier and Nimrod capability.

Our speaker then turned to Civilian Craft and provided us with another interesting chronological guide through the post war years up to the present day. Ian concluded his talk by explaining the incredible journey made in aviation from canvas, wires, pulleys and levers through to computer dominant technology. He also paid homage to the test pilots down the years who sometimes lost their lives with experimental craft.

This was a very comprehensive talk on the history of aviation. Ian tackled a complex story with great clarity and covered what was a broad canvass very well. Very good illustrations helped to maintain audience attention throughout. After several interesting questions were answered, members were able to make their way out and back onto the baked streets of Cupar del Sol. A good morning was enjoyed by all

Colin Moore