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By the beginning of 1947, Avro’s Technical Director, Roy Chadwick, had already made a substantial contribution to aviation. His career had progressed from wooden biplanes to stressed-skin monoplanes and, ultimately, to an airliner capable of crossing oceans above the weather in pressurised comfort. A new challenge now emerged: combining Britain’s expertise in jet propulsion and aerodynamics to meet the next strategic threat. Although Farnborough’s leading minds could not confidently confirm the requirement was achievable, the concept of a bomber capable of delivering Britain’s atomic weapon was conceived. Once again, Avro would compete directly with Handley Page. The Vulcan represented a pragmatic leap forward, combining advanced aerodynamics with a practical structure. Driven by the need for speed, altitude, and survivability in the nuclear age, it became the defining aircraft of the V-bomber force and a powerful symbol of Britain’s Cold War deterrent.About the Speaker:
Steve has been actively involved in aerodynamic development in motorsport since 2010. He has had a lifelong fascination with aircraft, particularly inspired by growing up close to the former RAF Finningley and a sky teeming with Cold War hardware. This became a professional interest when he read Aerospace Engineering at the University of Manchester and spent time at Rolls-Royce contributing to the F-35 vertical take-off programme. Following a PhD in aerodynamics, he researched active flow control technology and its potential contributions to the greening of civil aircraft and the combat effectiveness of military ones, which were taken to the jet-powered flying stage.
He is a former board chairman and Council Member of the Royal Aeronautical Society, and until recently a Trustee of the Vulcan to the Sky Trust, the owners of what was the last airworthy V-bomber. He was awarded the RAeS Journal of Aeronautical History prize 2021, for his paper on the aerodynamic development of the Vulcan, “Pearcey, Newby and the Vulcan". This formed the basis of his technical and political history, Shaping the Vulcan, published in 2025.
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ARA Sports and Social Club Manton Lane, MK41 7PF Bedford, United Kingdom, Bedford, United Kingdom
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Concerts, fests, parties, meetups — all the happenings, one place.