Trenchard House is an unassuming building on the main road from Aldershot to Farnborough. The only unusual thing about it is that several aircraft are parked in the grounds - although in Farnborough, that isn’t totally surprising. The Farnborough Air Sciences Trust (FAST) is there, in the oldest aeronautical building in the world. In 1906, it was a balloon factory; now it holds a colossal collection of items from the aviation history of the UK.
The Aerospace TPN visited on 25 May and heard from David Wilson a fascinating history of British aviation and the Royal Aircraft Establishment (RAE). Samuel Cody’s first UK flight of 16th October 1908, was commemorated a century later by the opening of the Cody Pavilion containing a replica of Cody’s original aircraft. Cody’s fatal accident 5 years later was, in a way, the start of the Air Accidents Investigation Branch, which is still within the Farnborough aerodrome site. (The Aerospace TPN will be holding a technical visit to the AAIB this time next year.)
We heard also about some specific activities of RAE: the investigation of the Comet aircraft crashes of the 1950s which led to the systematic understanding of fatigue as a hazard; the development of vertical flight and the world-beating Harrier aircraft; Concorde and supersonic flight. We walked round many of the aircraft parked in the grounds and all had the chance to sit in the cockpit of the Harrier. A fascinating but all too short glimpse of the physical side of Farnborough’s aerospace heritage.
Only 5 minutes’ walk from FAST is the National Aerospace Library (NAL), which is owned and operated by the Royal Aeronautical Society (RAeS) with close technical links to the IET’s Aerospace TPN has. As a technical library, it has strong links also with the IET library. Although physically compact, NAL holds more than 130 current journals, a vast collection of books, more than 40,000 technical reports, well over 100,000 photographs and, unusually, aviation posters from the earliest days not only of air shows but also from the “balloon mania” period of the early 19th century. Have you heard of the parachuting monkey?
Tony Pilmer and Brian Riddle showed some of the collection, including many irreplaceable items of historical significance such as Sir George Cayley’s original notebooks. This highlighted an unexpected link: the Wright brothers were bicycle engineers before venturing into aviation – Cayley invented the tension bike wheel with spokes.
Tony remarked that “anyone who loves aviation also loves the history”. The TPN enjoyed an expert-led guide through what must be one of the finest concentrations of that history anywhere - open to the public and free of charge.
