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Lecture Programme :

All lectures are held (unless otherwise stated) during our monthly meetings at our Kents Hill Community Centre venue (see the 'Contact Us' page for full details).

Doors open at 19.30 for a 20.00 start. 

11th February 2025

Michael Napier - Airline Flying Career

Michael joined British Airways in September 1997 after a 19-year career in the RAF. His first appointment was as a First Officer on the McDonnell Douglas DC-10 flying routes to the USA, Africa and the Middle East. After the DC-10 was retired from service in 1999, Michael converted to the Boeing 777 which he flew until 2003 when he changed types again and moved to short-haul flying on the Airbus A319/A320/A321 fleet. In 2006 he was appointed as a captain, remaining on the Airbus short-haul fleet flying all across Europe as well as some Middle East destinations. His final aircraft type was the Boeing 787, which he flew from 2016 until his retirement in 2019. 

In his talk, Michael will seek to correct all those misconceptions about airline flying like “the simulator must be fun,” “you must fly the same route all the time,” “aircraft land themselves these days” and many others!

11th March 2025

MKAS AGM & Photo Competition

8th April 2025

Rod Dean – Flying The Hunter and Other Things – Part 1

Rod Dean returns with a look back at his 39 years (and nearly 3,000 flying hours) involvement with the magnificent Hawker Hunter, including his time flying the aircraft in Aden, as a very young 20 year old, Bahrain and Oman as well as at RAF Chivenor and Brawdy and, more recently, flying the civil registered aircraft.  Being in two parts allows Rod to look in depth at many of the highlights of this period of his flying life; most of which are quite light hearted and humorous

Read more....

 

13th May 2025

Rod Dean – Flying The Hunter and Other Things –

Part 2

 

10th June 2025

Neil Chattle - The History, Heritage and Engineering Excellence of Rolls-Royce

Neil Chattle was formerly Head of Corporate Heritage and Chief Executive of the Rolls-Royce Heritage Trust (RRHT).  During his lecture tonight, Neil will summarise the major events in the design, development and manufacture of Rolls-Royce aero engines and applications over the past 118 years

8th July 2025

Air Marshal 'Black' Robertson - 'Phew, That Was Close!'

Air Marshal ‘Black’ Robertson tonight presents an evening of enthralling stories from Suez and the Cold War to the Falklands and the Balkans – the amazing experiences of both aircrew and groundcrew, from the highest to the lowest ranks, aircrew and groundcrew alike. It wasn’t just experiences in the air from which these individuals learnt lessons for life, it was the people with whom they worked, the places they served and the jobs they did. Their tales of derring-do offer a unique perspective on the RAF’s development and characters who formed its backbone

Read more....

12th August 2025

Captain Jim Passmore - Tales From the Flight Deck

Captain Jim Passmore worked for BA for 35 years, starting as a co-pilot on the Trident and progressing to a senior management position.  Tonight he will recount some interesting, and sometimes tragic, aspects of aviation during his time.  This will include accounts of the early auto-land system, the Staines Trident and the Manchester 737 accidents

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