Spring Meeting: 6th March 1981, RAF Upper Heyford
Latecomers were unable to gain entry through the barbed wire to the security area and missed seeing the F-111, shown to members in its blast-proof shelter, to the accompaniment of alarm bells. In USAF tradition we paid for our own food and drink. After lunch a young flight commander and his “wizzo” (weapons/systems officer) explained how terrain following RADAR (TFR) enabled near-supersonic flying to be done at 200 feet above ground level in mountainous territory with the pilot and crew not looking out. BMPA members were the first visitors at the official opening of the new base hospital, which was to have 22 doctors for a resident population of 11,000. The first President’s Cup winner was FD Trevarthen, of Welwyn, for a picture of a girl on a Tiger Moth.
Autumn Meeting: 5th-6th September 1981, Kidlington, Oxford
The symposium on pilot training included a visit to a flight simulator and engineering shops. At the AGM only three members expressed dissatisfaction with the times of meetings.
Lecture
- Pilot Training – Symposium (Logan)