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21st October 2014 - Test Flying and Engineering John Bolton The President welcomed members to the meeting on Tuesday 21
October and introduced our guest speaker John Bolton, who brought us humour,
film and an excellent narrative of his career as a test pilot in the RAF and
British Aerospace. With his talk titled Townhead to Toulouse, John's school days
at Allan Glen in 1962 where they had an Air Training Corps settled his career
path very easily. Training on the Jet Provost followed by experience on the
Gnat, Hunter and Harrier took him on to the Test Flying School at R A E, Bedford
on aerodynamic research. Involved in the development of the Sea Harrier on HMS
Hermes, this was also the time of the introduction of the ski jump ramp on ships
to assist Harrier take offs. A quickly discovered side benefit of the ski ramp
was that the space below the ramp could be used for band practice leaving the
rest of the ship's crew in peace!
By the end of his military service John had flown all the military aircraft in
the Western World up to the F15. Joining British Aerospace at Prestwick as chief
test pilot, Regional Aircraft and latterly as Production and Development Test
Pilot Airbus, this segment of his career was supported by a great video and
audio account of the depth of testing required to bring the Airbus into general
use. Bill Allen gave the vote of thanks to John for his most interesting talk.
The next meeting is on 4 November starting at 10.30am when we meet to hear
Sandra Dunlop who will talk about
The State Hospital, Carstairs. |