(please note: at the request of tonight's guest, there has been a change of subject matter for this evening presentation. It is hoped that Professor Grove will speak to us on 'the Suez Canal crisis and war of 1956' at a future date).

Tonight we give a very warm welcome to Professor Eric Grove, Professor of Naval History at Liverpool Hope University.

The Battle of Leyte Gulf, sometimes referred-to as the Second Battle of the Philippine Sea, is widely seen as the largest naval battle of World War 2, and possibly of all time.

The battle was fought in the waters around the Philippine islands of Leyte, Samar and Luzon over four days in October seventy years ago, by the combined forces of the United States and Australia against the Imperial Japanese Navy.

The Allied victory largely prevented Japanese replenishment by sea and contributed hugely to the success of the ensuing land battle which led to the liberation of the islands.

Please come along if your want to hear more about this significant and historic naval battle of World War 2.

An evening for the diary and certainly a presentation not to be missed.

Chris is one of our leading photographers and tonight will deliver his annual 'A Year in Pictures' presentation. 

Now in its eighth year, Chris will cover the 2014 air shows at RAF Waddington and RAF Fairford (Royal International Air Tattoo), and take a detailed look at several of the 2014 Society visits. 

The presentation will also include some classic air show and military aviation images and a Manchester Airport round-up.

Throughout his presentation, Chris will also give an insight not just into into how he takes his images, but which methods and software he uses to process a raw image and then turn it into something that's suitable for sharing with others /displaying in a public place. Any related questions you have will be answered throughout the presentation.

Chris will also provide an update on SBS and Plane Plotter.

The evening will close with a round-up of the 2014 visits programme and a brief look at what we have in store for 2015. 

Please come along for what should be a fascinating and varied evening of aviation imagery.

Tonight we give a very warm welcome to Dr Phil Smith, who will be visiting for the first time.

Dr Smith, a retired GP from the Isle of Man, will give a presentation and share his amazing passion for the Airspeed Ambassador.

An evening for the diary and certainly a presentation not to be missed.

Tonight Paul will show slides from RAF Valley Air Show, Farnborough and Naval shots from the D-Day commemorations at Portsmouth Harbour - all taken in 1994.

and 'The Douglas DC-10 and McDonnell Douglas MD-11' by Chris Wood

Tonight Chris will show both slides and digital images of Douglas DC10s and McDonnell Douglas MD11s taken between 1994 and 2011.

Chris took the opportunity to fly on the final passenger DC10 flight and will show images and short video clips of the event.

Tonight we welcome RAF Burtonwood Heritage Centre Manager Roy Thorpe-Apps and his team from the RAF Burtonwood Association. They will give us a presentation about RAF Burtonwood and its history. The base played a key role in World War II when it was used by the United States Army Air Force as Base Air Depot 1. We look forward to hearing about this and its subsequent uses.

Tonight we give a warm welcome to long-time member Jim Newton, who will tonight give resume of him many years of travel to exotic and extremely interesting locations throughout the world.

An evening for the diary and certainly a presentation not to be missed.

We welcome back Drew who will look back on his aviation career with the Royal Air Force and BAe Systems. Drew spent much of his RAF service in Maritime operations and was latterly involved with the Nimrod MRA.4 programme.  Drew will conclude by taking a peek into the future.

Unfortunately, due to reasons beyond our control, Drew has had to postpone his presentation planned for this evening. We hope to re-arrange a new date for the presentation in due course.

As a consequence, we are grateful to Colin Duckworth who has stepped in at short notice to present:

'(Royal) International Air Tattoo 1990 - 2012'; by Colin Duckworth

Colin will tonight be taking a photographic look at the aviation participants at the (Royal) International Air Tattoo - 1990 to 2012.

Please come along for what should be a fascinating and varied evening of aviation imagery.

Tonight you can test your aircraft recognition skills with the a Recognition Competition, set by last years winner, Martin Powell.

This will be followed by a selection of images taken at Zeltweg 'Air Power' 2013 Air Show and from a selection of aviation museums in both Germany and exotic Sri Lanka.

Dr Thurai Rahulan is a senior lecturer in aeronautical engineering at Salford University. Following on from his superb presentation on the Airbus A380 and Concorde, Thurai returns this evening to deliver what promises to be another outstanding presentation, this time on the Hawker Siddeley/BAe Systems Harrier.

Thurai will also be taking a look at the Lockheed-Martin F-35.

An evening not to be missed.

It is fifty years almost to the day since the Boeing’s Model 367-80 concept aircraft first took to the air.

Tonight our members Martin Powell and Ivor Tamplin will treat us to an illustrated talk on the Dash Eighty and its off-springs, from the first Boeing 707’s and KC-135’s up to the E-3 'AWACS' , E-6 'Mercury' and E-8 'J-Stars'.

One for the diary!

An illustrated talk with research material and video clips.

Rudolf Walter Richard Hess, was a prominent politician in Nazi Germany. Appointed Deputy Führer to Adolph Hitler in 1933, he served in this position until 1941, when he flew solo to Scotland in an attempt to negotiate peace with the United Kingdom during War War ll. He was take prisoner and eventually convicted of crimes against peace, serving a life sentence. (credit to Wikipedia for the supporting text and image)

For the second part of the evening, we welcome member Stuart Daley.

'My Life in Aviation'; by Stuart Daley

Stuart will be giving a short presentation about his life as an aviation enthusiast. The presentation will undoubtedly include a series of images of Stuarts's favourite aircraft, the Handley Page Herald.

Please come along for what should be a fascinating and varied evening.

The first part of the meeting will be a look at the "RAF Waddington Air Show" since the show started in 1995, with photographs of aircraft that have taken part, right up to the most recent show in 2013 .There have been some interesting visitors and Colin is sure he has captured most of them.

The second part is "Size Doesn't Matter"  a presentation on light aircraft and classics. The largest aircraft is probably a DC3 and there isn't a jet in sight. There are classic antique homebuilt twins etc. The photographs were taken at PFA Rallies and various other places.

'English Electric (Preston) in WW2', by Dave Ward

The talk explains how the Strand Road factory went from peacetime production of Electric Locomotives and Trams to wartime production of Bomber Aircraft.

In parallel there is a description of the building, setting up and running of the new Aircraft Assembly Factory at Samlesbury Aerodrome

Don't miss what promises to be an excellent evening.

Peter's presentation has been assembled during the course of 4 cruises in the period 2008-2013. Islands and Airports covered to varying degrees are Antigua, Aruba, Barbados, Bonaire, Curacao, Dominica, Grand Turk, La Guiara (Caracas), Montego Bay, Ocho Rios, St Kitts, St Lucia, Saint Maarten, St Vincent, Tortola and Trinidad.

Don't miss what promises to be an excellent evening.

From Aircraft to Zurich, Ambulance to Blackpool, Dragon Rapide to Fairford and Low Flying to Manchester, Malcolm will take us in pictures through his own personal aviation alphabet. Hopefully, there should be something that appeals to everyone, whatever your interest in aviation, even the dreaded Herald gets a mention!

Don't miss what promises to be an excellent evening.

John travels regularly to New Zealand, and was able to attend the Omaka Air Show in 2013 of which he will present a detailed report.

Tonight we welcome Mark Bowman, Chief Test Pilot, Combat Aircraft of BAe Systems to the Society, who will tell us of his role in Typhoon testing and development. 

Mark hails from the Manchester area and joined the Royal Air Force as a University cadet.  After studying Aeronautical Engineering at Imperial College he trained as a pilot, mainly flying the Harrier before joining BAe Systems. 

Do not miss what promises to be an excellent evening.

Our annual quiz set by last year’s winner, Martin Powell.  This is the 38^th year of the competition and there are 13 names on the trophy.  Unfortunately 4 are no longer with us and another has not been a member of the Society for several years.  That means that some 70 members have yet to win the trophy!

Our guest is Tony Hallwood, Aviation Development and Marketing Director, LBIA, who will tell us of the developments at the Airport.

'Douglas DC-8, Douglas DC-9 and McDonnell-Douglas DC-10', by Alan Scholefield

Unfortunately, due to reasons beyond our control, Tony Hallwood of Leeds Bradford International Airport, is unable to deliver his presentation to the Society this week.

As a consequence, we are very grateful to Alan Scholefield for stepping in at short notice. His presentation covers the development and operational history of the Douglas DC-8, Douglas DC-9 and McDonnell-Douglas DC-10.

We look forward to another excellent evening from Alan.

Through his own enthusiasms and those of his father, the late Brian Robinson, Lloyd has been involved with the UK Aircraft Preservation movement for many years.  Tonight he will tell us of the successes and failures of that period.

We welcome back Drew who will look back on his aviation career with the Royal Air Force and BAe Systems. Drew spent much of his RAF service in Maritime operations and was latterly involved with the Nimrod MRA.4 programme.  Drew will conclude by taking a peek into the future.

Unfortunately, due to reasons beyond our control, Drew has had to postpone his presentation planned for this evening. We hope to re-arrange a new date for the presentation in due course.

As a consequence, we are grateful to both Chris Berry and Paul Henshaw who have stepped in at short notice to present:

'L'Aviation Militaire - Ceci, Cela, et d'Autres Choses', by Chris berry

followed by -

'U.S. Military Aviation Museums', by Paul Henshaw

Please come along for what should be a great evening of aviation images.

22^nd January, 2014

Members Martin Powell and Ivor Tamplin have put together a presentation on U.S. Piston Engined Transport Aircraft starting with the Boeing 247 and finishing with the Mini Guppy, not forgetting the Barkley-Grow T8P-1, the Budd Conestoga and many others on the way.

The prototype of this presentation was unveiled to members in 2013. Following further development, the production version of the presentation will be presented this evening.

The AGM will take its usual form, with a pie and pea supper for all current members in attendance. Please Note, the AGM is open to current members only. 

For further information (AGM), please contact the Society Secretary, Alan Dixon.

The model competition will be organised as in previous years  and will be judged by David Smith (from the International Plastic Modellers Society, Bolton). For information on the type and number of entries, and how to enter, please see the December Newsletter. Alternatively, please contact the Programme Secretary.