Year ahead in local aviation (From Penarth Times)

Year ahead in local aviation

THE 2006 calendar is filling up for the recently formed Penarth Aviation Society.

Speakers Bill Rixon and Ben Welch will compare the Air Training Corps (Air Cadets) during the Second World War with the Corps today.

Ex-RAF Air Traffic Controller Frank Keen and ex-RAF and BA pilot Fred Dennis will describe, with first hand knowledge, how aircraft are kept apart and directed from one airfield to another across the globe.

Mark Freaney, a DARA airframes expert, will give an illustration of the maintenance of airframes and how checks and repairs are carried out on aircraft.

There will also be visits for members of the group.

In February, they will head to the Fleet Air Arm Museum at RNAS Yeovilton Wiltshire.

One of the highlights of this visit will be to experience the simulated flight deck of an aircraft carrier and a simulated flight in a Fleet Air Arm helicopter.

In April, there is a trip to RAF and American Air Museum at Duxford Cambridgeshire.

Aircraft on display include those from the Battle of Britain, D-Day, The Cold War era and the Falklands Campaign.

The American Museum is also a memorial to the 30,000 Americans who died, flying from Britain during the Second World War.

There is a Land Warfare collection to be seen; one of the best in the UK. In June, members will head to RAF Aerospace Museum Cosford near Shrewsbury in Shropshire.

Four museums in one are housed here: Research and Development, Transport, Missiles and Warplane Collections.

They include, among scores of other types, the De Haviland Comet and the ill-fated TSR2 - an aircraft ahead of its time.

For those interested in any aspect of flying, meetings are held at 8pm on the first Friday of every month, at the RAFA Club, Windsor Road, Penarth, where a warm welcome from like minds is assured.

Prior contact can be made via Ben Welch (Hon Secretary) on 07729 398 766 or Barrie Howell on 029 2053 1390.