November 2016
Chairman’s Welcome Branch Lecture Report
Dear Members, “Miles M52, Britain's Wartime Supersonic project” – Rod Kirby I would like to welcome you to our winter edition of the Branch Rod Kirkby, former Hawker Siddeley Aerodynamicist, gave a newsletter. I hope you are enjoying our Branch lecture and visit programme thus far this year. This newsletter features reports on the fascinating lecture on a little known project of the 1940’s that could Branch lectures that took place over the last couple of months. Firstly have resulted in legendary British Test Pilot, Eric “Winkle” Brown, we had Rod Kirby, former Hawker Siddley Aerodynamicist, who gave being the first pilot to break the sound barrier. In fact, with the ultra- an excellent lecture on ‘Miles M52, Britain’s Wartime Supersonic efficient razor sharp wings reminiscent of the 1960’s era Starfighter Project’. The lecture gave an insight about very little known project of and an advanced Whittle Turbofan engine, the aircraft could have 1940’s that could have resulted in legendary British Test Pilot, Eric, pressed on towards 1000 mph! Sadly the project was cancelled before being the first pilot to break the sound barrier. The second exciting a flying prototype was put into the air but subsequent rocket tests lecture titled “Legacy of the NASA Kepler Mission” was given by Roger verified the aerodynamic design was sound. Hunter, the Associate Director of NASA Ames Research Center. The lecture was on the theme of Kepler mission where the prime aim was In fact the project was founded on a misunderstanding. A stolen to search for habitable planets. German memo talked about a 1000 mph aircraft being developed by the Nazi’s. This caused alarm in London and a British design was rapidly commissioned by the war office. Miles Aircraft Ltd. was chosen We have an upcoming lecture on 23rd November 2016 by Roger Alton, Aviation Historian and Enthusiast on “V1, V2 and V3 Weapons”. as the Airframer due to their experience in developing unconventional Roger will thread a narrative about the advancements of rocket designs. The Royal Aircraft Establishment didn’t believe breaking the research during WWII, specifically about the “Vergeltungswaffen”, a sound barrier was possible due to the rapid increase in drag observed particular set of weapons, and the way these changed the nature of in subsonic wind tunnel testing. However, the National Physical warfare. Laboratory (NPL) had done supersonic tests and showed the drag did drop away above Mach One. Data also existed from shells that went
Last but not the least; I would like to thank the members of our hard- supersonic when they were fired showing the “sound barrier” was working committee who supported the pre-planning and organisation indeed a myth. Miles used the NPL data to design a straight thin wing of the branch activities. rather than the swept wing technology. At the end of the war there was a prevailing belief that swept was best even though at 1000mph Paulas Sekaran, MRAeS – Chairman, RAeS Derby Branch the thin straight wing was more efficient. The straight wing also allowed the use of high lift devices that allowed a reasonable landing speed that was tested by Eric Brown in a mock up aircraft. This resulted in a much safer aircraft than the early delta designs like the I NSIDE THIS NEWSLETTER deHavilland Swift.
1 Chairman’s Welcome & Branch Information The other notable advanced feature was the all flying tail plane that was handed over to Bell for use on the X1 which famously did break 1 Branch Lecture Report – Miles M52, Britain's Wartime Supersonic project the sound barrier with Chuck Yeager at the controls. The flight profile of the M-52 would have been a subsonic climb to 40000ft followed by 2 Branch Lecture Report – Legacy of the NASA Kepler a shallow dive through the sound barrier and a supersonic climb to Mission cruising altitude. This was the exact same profile flown by the 2 Branch Lecture Report – History of East Midlands Lockheed SR71 spy plane in the 1960’s. Airport So to the misunderstanding; it was later found that the 1000mph Nazi 3 Upcoming Events super plane was actually a 1000kph (621mph) aircraft much more like the equivalent Allied technology of the day. But by setting an
ambitious goal, Miles were able to reach for the skies!
Continues on page 2 Derby Branch Information
Branch Committee 2015/16 President: Colin Smith, Chairman: Paulas Sekaran, Vice Chairman: Simon Hall, Treasurer: Hilary Barton Hon Secretary: Chris Sheaf, Lecture Coordinator: Tianyi Han, Publicity: Mario Di Martino, Editor: Ram Bhadresa, Young Members Rep: Anisa Hafeji Visits Coordinator: James Cowell, Members: Brenda Crawford, Braky Zewde, Chris Clarke, Darren Fyffe, Keith Cobley, Marcus Smith, Mike Goulette, Richard Betts, Tommy Ayeni, Wyne Akif, Prashant Chakravarty, Rami Shehade.
Branch Contacts
Hon Secretary: Chris Sheaf, Email: [email protected], Rolls-Royce plc, ML-103, PO Box 31, Derby, DE24 8BJ
Chairman: Paulas Sekaran, Email: [email protected], Rolls-Royce plc, SINA-24, PO Box 31, Derby, DE24 8BJ
Publicity: Mario Di Martino, Email: [email protected], Rolls-Royce plc, T2-14, PO Box 31, Derby, DE24 8BJ
Editor: Ram Bhadresa, Email: [email protected], Rolls-Royce plc, RRCAEL, PO Box 31, Derby, DE24 8BJ
RAeS Derby Branch Newsletter Continues Page on page 1 2
Continues from page 1 At launch (6th March 2009), the Kepler satellite was able to immediately detect 3 exo-planets. Within just 4 years, 4700 candidate The last part of the lecture discussed the possible reasons for exo-planets were tracked, with 2300 of them able to be confirmed to cancelling the project. These remain murky but could be a be habitable. This level of success can be largely attributed to the combination of a disbelief that thin straight wings would work given exciting technology that was based on the satellite, which includes the the German data (later disproven), a vendetta against Sir Frank largest photometer ever used. The number of stars being monitored at Whittle (only anecdotal evidence exists) and possibly more likely the same time was, and still is, absolutely unprecedented. pressure from the US given the concern that Britain was selling technology to the Russians such as the Rolls-Royce Nene Engine. Although the level of success of this mission speaks for itself, the Sadly all the records were burned so we will never know. Kepler mission was not without setbacks. The main method by which the Kepler satellite orients itself in deep space was via the function of reaction wheels, 2 of which failed 3 years into its mission. Needing a minimum of 3 of these wheels to accurately position itself, the mission was in danger of heading into an early grave. The brilliance of the scientific community at the time was what saved Kepler, which incorporated an ingenious solution that changed the ecliptic plane of the Kepler satellite itself, and used in conjunction with solar winds, the satellite could use just the 2 remaining reaction wheels to position itself. This second wind of the mission was known as the K2 mission, and using the new methods, was able to focus on wider galactic planes to detect habitable exo-planets around smaller, dimmer red dwarfs.
Artist's impression of the Miles M.52
All in all a fascinating lecture and Rod was able to show off his hand paintings of what might have been with the Miles M-52 overtaking the Bell X1 with the inscription “For Yeager read Brown.”
Braky Zewde, MRAeS
Branch Lecture Report Colonel Roger Hunter in Rolls-Royce LDC “Legacy of the NASA Kepler Mission” – Roger The impact of the Kepler mission went far beyond the significance of Hunter the technology that it utilised. One of the planets that the Kepler Space… The final frontier... Or is it? That was the storied question mission detected (Kepler-16B) is orbiting 2 suns, in the same fashion that formed the foundation of the lecture given by Colonel Roger as the Star Wars planet ‘Tatooine’, where the fabled (albeit fictional) Hunter from NASA AMES on 10th October. NASA AMES is a major hero Luke Skywalker was raised. NASA research centre based in California’s Silicon Valley and is responsible for providing leadership for many of NASA’s missions. Another planet that it found was Kepler-452B which was, out of all the One of these is the Kepler mission, for which the prime directive is to confirmed exo-planets, deemed to be the most like Earth. Both of search for habitable planets. Roger Hunter is NASA Ames Associate these planets’ detection spawned a whole host of pop-culture Director and also has been Project Manager for Kepler and the references all over the media at the time. The cultural impact of the intimate nature of his role and involvement with this mission along Kepler mission was absolutely immense with this regard, exposing an with his delightful personality made for an extremely interesting entire generation of humanity to the possibility of life elsewhere in the evening that gripped the imagination of its audience right from the universe. outset. As a closing thought that was as profound as any of the deepest messages one can imagine, Roger Hunter essentially summarised the It was the philosopher Epicurus who first theorised on the possibility entirety of the Kepler mission into one factual statement. The mission that we are not alone in this vast cosmic arena. Indeed, this was able to conclusively state that every star it detected has at least 1 existential question of “Are we alone?” has been driving mankind’s planet. And 1 in 5 stars have at least 1 earth like planet. Given that the gaze upwards throughout the ages but it is only in recent decades Kepler satellite was able to detect stars as far as 50,000 light years that technology has actually made it possible and NASA’s Kepler away, the possibility of life existing elsewhere can very well be more mission is one of the, if not the only, defining missions of our lifetime than a possibility. Life always looks for life. that aims to answer this question. In closing, this was an extremely fascinating lecture and we would like The basic premise behind the mission itself is easy enough to follow. to thank Roger Hunter and NASA AMES for taking the time to deliver The Kepler satellite is placed into a Heliocentric orbit, which us this experience. essentially means the satellite orbits our sun directly. The Kepler Vijay Maheswar satellite is then pointed at a specific zone of individual stars, in a Branch Lecture Report portion of our region in the Milky Way, known as the Habitable Zone, and its advanced photographic technology searches for planets (or “History of East Midlands Airport” – John Froggatt exo-planets as NASA AMES calls them) that simulate habitable conditions similar to that of the blue-green marble that we call On the evening of 19th October, the Derby Branch was pleased to home. In essence, it tracks stars that are similar in size and intensity welcome John Froggatt to give a lecture on the history of East to our own sun, and tracks the planets that are orbiting these stars. Midlands Airport. John was born and raised in Derby and was At the point of the orbit where the planets are caught passing across employed at the airport for 30 years from 1983 to 2013 in various the star (or point of transit), the Kepler satellite tracks the difference roles including, ‘Airport Cargo and Commercial Bid Director’. in brightness of the star as well as the duration of this change. This information is used to calculate the planet’s orbital size as well as the John began his lecture by showing a map image from1916 showing size of the star. The planet’s habitability is then determined from the the first recorded instance of an airfield at the site of today’s airport. size and temperature of the star and the planet’s temperature. Continues on page 3
RAeS Derby Branch Newsletter Page 2
Continues from page 2 Cargo operations at night expanded in the early 1980s when Royal Mail began to use East Midlands as a hub for its mail cargo. In 1990, This Royal Flying Corps (RFC) airfield was literally a field and was the 20,000 tonnes of cargo passed through the airport and by 2002 this flying base of 38Sqn RFC based in Melton Mowbray and commanded had grown to 220,000 tonnes. Today three of the four biggest Express by a certain Captain Arthur T. Harris (later famously known as Integrator companies (DHL, TNT and UPS) all have major facilities and “Bomber” Harris in World War 2). John went on to explain that in operations at East Midlands Airport. John explained that the primary World War 2 the airfield again took on a military purpose this time as reason for the airport’s success as a cargo hub is its location. 90% of RAF Castle Donington. Using aerial photographs John pointed out England can be reached within a 4hr lorry drive from the airport. The the significant increase in scale of operations at the airfield which by fact that the airport also has room for expansion and less restricted now boasted three runways, concrete aprons and taxiways, night flying capability is also seen as a significant factor in its maintenance hangars and large billets for aircrew and support popularity with Integrators. personnel. John concluded his lecture by indicating the aims of the Airport Following World War 2, civil aviation in the East Midlands was mainly management to grow their passenger numbers to 10 million centred on Derby Airport at Burnaston (where the Toyota Plant is passengers per year by 2040 and to increase total UK air freight from located today). Derby aviation was set-up as a local airline and 2.3m tonnes per year to 4.3m tonnes. The key challenges to achieving operated DC-3’s through the 1950’s from this site. these aims, as John explained, will be the increase in traffic noise The old Castle Donington airfield returned to prominence in the early during the day and at night, the associated environmental impact, as 1960’s when a committee of 5 local authorities, was formed to well as taxation on both cargo and passenger duty by the Government. construct a new East Midlands Airport. The new airport facility was In closing John remarked how, in recent years, the airport has moved built and opened in April 1965 and John commented on the speed of to work more closely with community groups to address such the airport site development and build, completed in just two years challenges together via its Community Relations and Environment from site purchase, relative to some of today’s airport liaison teams. build/expansion projects! More aerial photographs showed the 1965 Simon Hall, MRAeS airport now with a single runway, extended from one of the original three World War 2 runaways, as well as the new airport building and Upcoming Events control tower. Parts of the original control tower and main building structure can still be seen at the airport today and, for its day the Branch Lecture: “V-1, V-2 and V-3 Weapons” building was state of the art. Photographs of the interior of the Roger Allton: Aviation History Enthusiast lounges, restaurant and departures hall supported John’s comments on the level of exclusivity of air travel in the mid-1960s – a time when air travel was still expensive and low volume. Those who could afford to travel saw it as an occasion and would dress up accordingly.
Initially the new civilian airport grew slowly with Derby Aviation moving to the airport in 1965. Cargo and freight business was minimal, and the bulk of the airport’s flying activity was scheduled airline traffic with holiday charters growing in popularity in the 1970s and reflecting the wider growth in chartered holidays across the UK Wednesday 23rd November 2016, 17:30hrs and Europe. In 1986 the government’s Airports Act enforced all local Nightingale Hall, RR leisure association, Moor Lane, Derby council authorities to set-up private companies to manage their airports and in 1993 East Midlands was sold to the National Express
Group and later sold again in 2001 to the Manchester Airport Group who currently own the airport. Young Person’s Forum 2016
The 2016 Young Person’s Event is being held at the Manchester Museum of Science and Industry (MOSI) on Wed 30th November. See more at: http://www.aerosociety.com/Events/Event- List/2862/Young-Persons-Forum-2016
2017 Young Persons Lecture Competition CALL FOR SPEAKERS!
A DHL Boeing 757 on approach to East Midlands Airport at the start of a business night’s cargo operations (Photo: Simon Hall)
Today, East Midlands Airport is known as much for its cargo operations as for its airline activity. Cargo operations at the airport started when Derby Aviation began transporting fresh flowers to the Aged 30 or under? East Midlands. For further details and participation contact: Mustafa Kheraluwala Email: [email protected]
RAeS Derby Branch on the Internet and the Rolls-Royce intranet The Branch Internet pages are on the RAeS website – http://www.aerosociety.com – log on and follow the Branches link for the latest information. The Branch pages on the Rolls-Royce intranet also contain news and information about the Branch, as well as information about RAeS membership and services. They can be found here.
Suggestions or Comments Please feel free to contact the relevant committee member as listed above if you have any suggestions or comments on the activities of the RAeS Derby Branch.
RAeS Derby Branch Newsletter Page 3