To mark the 90th anniversary of the first flight from Inverness to Kirkwall – 8th May 1933 – the longest running passenger air service in Europe and the 78th anniversary of the opening of the Churchill Barriers – 12th May 1945, Another Orkney Production (AOP) have a series of events, Celebrating Scapa Flow 2023.
“The greater thrust of rockets at altitude was harnessed in the ‘Rockoon’ experiments of the 1950s , culminating in Project Farside, where 4-stage solid rockets were launched through the carrier balloons at high altitude “
“There were joint studies by NASA and ESA for a Montgolfière hot-air balloon with a radioactive isotope power source, and NASA’s Innovative Advanced Concepts office added the Titan Aerial Daughtercraft (TAD), a small helicopter which would return periodically to the balloon to recharge its batteries”
or, The Hang-Glider’s Guide to the Galaxy. VESSEL, designed by Duncan Lunan for Lance McLane by Sydney Jordan, Daily Record 1982-83
“The Waverider concept was devised in March 1957 by Prof. Terence Nonweiler of Queen’s College, Belfast, during work on a re-entry vehicle, intended for a manned spacecraft in the British space programme based on the Blue Streak missile. “
The complex life of ‘born adventurer’, polar explorer, World War I air ace, and sentenced for treason in 1948, Tryggve Gran, was covered by Robert Foden in his illustrated online talk for the Orkney Aviation Festival
On October 16th 1936, Jean Batten, New Zealand aviator, completed the first solo flight from England to New Zealand
Robert Foden tells the story of the Norwegian explorer Tryggva Gran, the first person to (officially) fly cross the North Sea. Aviation Festival 8th & 9th August 2022 online
“Aviation and the Art of Engineering” a talk by Professor Dugald Cameron OBE,FCSD,FRSA. Aviation Festival 8th & 9th August 2022 online
Gene Roddenberry (left), Dr. Brian O’Leary (centre), Deke Slayton (right), View from Earth conference dinner, July 31, 1984
