The Royal Aeronautical Society, also known as the RAeS, is a British multi-disciplinary professional institution dedicated to the global aerospace community. Founded in 1866, it is the oldest aeronautical society in the world. Members, Fellows, and Companions of the society can use the post-nominal letters MRAeS, FRAeS, or CRAeS, respectively.
Function The objectives of The Royal Aeronautical Society include: to support and maintain high professional standards in aerospace disciplines; to provide a unique source of specialist information and a local forum for the exchange of ideas; and to exert influence in the interests of aerospace in the public and industrial arenas, including universities.
The Royal Aeronautical Society is a worldwide society with an international network of 67 branches. Many practitioners of aerospace disciplines use the Society's designatory post-nominals such as FRAeS, CRAeS, MRAeS, AMRAeS, and ARAeS (incorporating the former graduate grade, GradRAeS).
The RAeS headquarters is at 4 Hamilton Place, London, W1J 7BQ. In addition to offices for its staff the building is used for Society events and parts of the building are available for private hire.
Publications
The Journal of the Royal Aeronautical Society: (1923–1967) The Aeronautical Quarterly: (1949–1983) Aerospace: (1969–1997) Aerospace International: (1997–2013) The Aerospace Professional: (1998–2013) The Aeronautical Journal: (1897 to date) The Journal of Aeronautical History: (2011 to date) AEROSPACE: (2013 to date) Briefing Papers and Reports (2015 to date) Consultation Responses (2015 to date)
Branches and divisions Branches deliver membership benefits and disseminate aerospace information. As of September 2013, branches located in the United Kingdom include: Belfast, Birmingham, Boscombe Down, Bristol, Brough, Cambridge, Cardiff, Chester, Christchurch, Coventry, Cranfield, Cranwell, Derby, FAA Yeovilton, Farnborough, Gatwick, Gloucester & Cheltenham, Hatfield, Heathrow, Highland, Isle of Wight, Isle of Man, Loughborough, Manchester, Marham, Medway, Oxford, Preston, Prestwick, Sheffield, Solent, Southend, Stevenage, Swindon, Weybridge, and Yeovil.
The RAeS international branch network includes: Adelaide, Auckland, Blenheim, Brisbane, Brussels, Canberra, Canterbury, Cyprus, Dublin, Hamburg, Hamilton, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Melbourne, Montreal, Munich, Palmerston North, Paris, Perth, Seattle, Singapore, Sydney, Toulouse, and the UAE.
Divisions of the Society have been formed in countries and regions that can sustain a number of Branches. Divisions operate with a large degree of autonomy, being responsible for their own branch network, membership recruitment, subscription levels, conference and lecture programmes.
Specialist Groups covering various facets of the aerospace industry exist under the overall umbrella of the Society, with the aim of serving the interests of both enthusiasts and industry professionals. Their remit is to consider significant developments in their field through conferences and lectures, with the intention of stimulating debate and facilitating action on key industry issues. The Groups also act as focal points for all enquiries to the Society concerning their specialist subject matter.
As of September 2013, the Specialist Group committees are: Aerodynamics, Aerospace Medicine, Air Power, Air Law, Air Transport, Airworthiness & Maintenance, Avionics & Systems, Environment, Flight Operations, Flight Simulation, Flight Test, General Aviation, Greener by Design, Historical, Human Factors, Human Powered Flight, Propulsion, Rotorcraft, Space, Structures & Materials, UAS, Weapons Systems & Technologies, and Women in Aviation & Aerospace.
In 2009, the Royal Aeronautical Society formed a group of experts to document how to better simulate aircraft upset conditions, and thus improve training programmes.
History
The Society was founded in January 1866 with the name "The Aeronautical Society of Great Britain" and is the oldest aeronautical society in the world. Early or founding members included James Glaisher, Francis Wenham, the Duke of Argyll, and Frederick Brearey. In the first year, there were 65 members, at the end of the second year, 91 members, and in the third year, 106 members. Annual reports were produced in the first decades. In 1868 the Society held a major exhibition at London's Crystal Palace with 78 entries. John Stringfellow's steam engine was shown there. The Society sponsored the first wind tunnel in 1870–71, designed by Wenham and Browning.
In 1918, the organisation's name was changed to the Royal Aeronautical Society.
In 1923 its principal journal was renamed from The Aeronautical Journal to The Journal of the Royal Aeronautical Society and in 1927 the Institution of Aeronautical Engineers Journal was merged into it.Aeronautical and Space Serial Publications: a world list. 1962. Science and Technology Division, Reference Department, Library of Congress. Washington, DC: U.S Government Printing Office. p. 73 refers to this journal.
In 1940, the RAeS responded to the wartime need to expand the aircraft industry. The Society established a Technical Department to bring together the best available knowledge and present it in an authoritative and accessible form – a working tool for engineers who might come from other industries and lack the specialised knowledge required for aircraft design. This technical department became known as the Engineering Sciences Data Unit (ESDU) and eventually became a separate entity in the 1980s.
In 1987 the 'Society of Licensed Aircraft Engineers and Technologists', previously called the 'Society of Licensed Aircraft Engineers' was incorporated into the Royal Aeronautical Society.
Presidents The following have served as President of the Royal Aeronautical Society:Past Presidents, Royal Aeronautical Society (Retrieved 17 Oct 2016).
1886–95 George Campbell, 8th Duke of Argyll 1895–00 (None) 1900–07 B. Baden-Powell 1907–08 (None) 1908–11 E. P. Frost 1911–19 (None) 1919–26 William Weir, 1st Viscount Weir 1926–27 Air Vice Marshal Sir William Sefton Brancker 1927–30 W Forbes-Sempill 1930–34 C. R. Fairey 1934–36 J. Moore-Brabazon 1936–38 H. E. Wimperis 1938–40 R. Fedden 1940–42 G. Brewer 1942–44 A. Gouge 1944–45 Sir Roy Fedden 1945–47 F. H. Page 1947–49 H. R. Cox 1949–50 J. Buchanan 1950–51 G. P. Bulman 1951–52 F. B. Halford 1952–53 G. Dowty 1953–54 Sir William Farren 1954–55 S. Camm 1955–56 N. E. Rowe 1956–57 E. T. Jones 1957–58 G. R. Edwards 1958–59 A. A. Hall 1959–60 P. G. Masefield 1960–61 E. S. Moult 1961–62 R. O. Jones 1962–63 B. S. Shenstone 1963–64 A. R. Collar 1964–65 H.H Gardner 1965–66 Sir George Gardner 1966- Honorary President Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh 1966–67 A.D Baxter 1967–68 M.B Morgan 1968–69 David Keith-Lucas 1969–70 F. R. Banks 1970–71 Air Commodore J.R Morgan 1971–72 S.D Davies 1972–73 K.G Wilkinson 1973–74 Dr G.S Hislop 1974–75 B.P Laight 1975–76 Air Marshal Sir Charles Pringle 1976–77 C. Abell 1977–78 Handel Davies 1978–79 Professor L.F Crabtree 1979–80 R.P Probert 1980–81 P.A Hearne 1981–82 J.T Stamper 1982–83 Captain E.M Brown 1983–84 Professor M.G Farley 1984–85 Geoffrey Pardoe 1985–86 Thomas Kerr 1986–87 John Fozard 1987–88 John Stollery 1988–89 Dr P.H Calder 1989–90 Dr H. Metcalfe 1990–91 G.C Howell 1991–92 G.M McCoombe 1992–93 Air Marshal Sir Frank Holroyd 1993–94 Dr G.G Pope 1994–95 Sir C.B.G Masefield 1995–96 Sir Donald Spiers 1996–97 Professor John Green 1997–98 Stewart M John 1998–99 Captain W.D Lowe 1999–00 Lanthony Edwards 2000–01 Trevor Trueman 2001–02 Professor Ian Poll 2002–03 Lee Balthazor 2003–04 Air Marshal Sir Peter Norriss 2004–05 Roland Fairfield 2005–06 Air Marshal Sir Colin Terry 2006–07 Gordon F. Page 2007–08 David Marshall 2008–09 Captain David Rowland 2009–10 Dr. Mike Steeden 2010–11 Air Vice-Marshal David Couzens 2011–12 Lee Balthazor 2012–13 Phil Boyle 2013–14 Jenny Body 2014–15 Air Commodore Bill Tyack 2015–16 Martin Broadhurst 2016 Honorary President Charles, Prince of Wales 2016–17 Professor Chris Atkin 2017–18 Sir Stephen Dalton FRAeS 2018–19 Rear Adm Simon Henley CEng FRAeS 2019–21 Professor Jonathan Cooper 2021–22 Howard Nye MInstP FRAeS 2022–23 Air Cdre Peter Round FRAeS 2023–24 Kerissa Khan MRAeS 2024–25 David Chinn FRAeS 2025-26 Dr Alisdair Wood FRAeS 2026-27 Professor Malcolm Macdonald FRAeS
Chief Executives Keith Mans was chief executive from 1998–2009 Simon Luxmoore was chief executive from 2009–2018 Sir Brian Burridge CBE FRAeS, from 1 October 2018 David Edwards FRAeS, from 1 October 2021
Honors
In addition to the award of Fellowship of the Royal Aeronautical Society (FRAeS) – the society's highest membership grade – the RAeS awards several other medals and prizes. These include its Gold, Silver, and Bronze medals. The very first gold medal was awarded in 1909 to the Wright Brothers. Although it is unusual for more than one medal (in each of the three grades) to be awarded annually, since 2004 the Society has also periodically awarded team medals (Gold, Silver, and Bronze) for exceptional or groundbreaking teamwork in aeronautical research and development. Others awarded have included the R. P. Alston Memorial Prize for developments in flight-testing, the Edward Busk prize for applied aerodynamics, the Wakefield Medal for advances in aviation safety, and an Orville Wright Prize. Honorary Fellowships and Honorary Companionships are awarded as well.
The Sir Robert Hardingham Sword is awarded in recognition of outstanding service to the RAeS by a member of the Society. Nominally an annual award, in practice the award is only made about one year in two.
Gold Medal Notable Gold Medal recipients include:
1909 – Wilbur and Orville Wright 1910 – Octave Chanute 1945 – Air Cdre Frank Whittle 1950 – Sir Geoffrey de Havilland 1955 – Ernest Hives, 1st Baron Hives 1958 – Sydney Camm 1959 – Marcel Dassault 1960 – Sir Frederick Handley Page 1977 – George Lee 1983 – Geoffrey Lilley 1993 – Reimar Horten 2012 – Elon Musk 2018 – Peter Beck
Honorary Fellows Reference:
1950 Sir Thomas Sopwith 1953 The Duke of Edinburgh 1954 Air Commodore Sir Frank Whittle 1957 The Prince of The Netherlands 1959 Professor J. Ackeret 1960 Sir George Edwards 1962 N. E. Rowe 1963 Sir Alfred Pugsley 1964 Sir Denning Pearson 1965 Sir Arnold Hall 1969 Dr R. R. Gilruth 1969 Lord Kings Norton 1969 Sir Archibald Russell 1970 Sir Robert Cockburn 1971 Professor Sydney Goldstein 1974 S. D. Davies 1975 C. Abell 1975 H. A. L. Ziegler 1976 Sir Keith Granville 1977 Sir William Hawthorne 1978 The Prince of Wales 1978 Dr O. Nagano 1978 Dr W. Tye 1979 Professor D. Keith-Lucas 1980 E. H. Heinemann 1980 Sir Frederick Page 1980 Sir Peter Masefield 1981 Sir Robert Hunt 1982 H. Davies 1983 Dr G. S. Hislop 1983 Professor Dipl-Ing G. Madelung 1983 R. H. Beteille 1984 J. T. Stamper 1984 Professor A. D. Young 1984 Sir Philip Foreman 1985 J. F. Sutter 1985 King Hussein of Jordan 1985 Sir Roy Sisson 1986 Professor J. H. Argyris 1986 Dr K. G. Wilkinson 1987 F. Cereti 1988 Professor H. Ashley 1988 G. P. Dollimore 1989 Admiral Sir Raymond Lygo 1989 Air Marshal Sir Charles Pringle 1989 F. d' Allest 1990 P. A. Hearne 1990 Sir James Lighthill 1991 Sir Ralph Robins 1992 Professor Em Dr-Ing K. H. Doetsch 1992 Sir John Charnley 1992 G. H. Lee 1993 The Duke of Kent 1993 Professor Dr.-Ing. B. J. Habibie 1993 R. W. Howard 1994 Baroness Platt of Writtle 1994 Lord Tombs of Brailes 1994 S. Gillibrand 1995 C. H. Kaman 1995 Professor J. L. Stollery 1995 R. W. R. McNulty 1996 P. M. Condit 1996 Sir Richard H. Evans 1997 J. Pierson 1997 N. Augustine 1997 J. Cunningham 1998 M. Flanagan 1998 R. Belyakov 1998 R. Yates 1998 S. Ajaz Ali 1999 A. Caporaletti 1999 D. Burrell 2000 N. Barber 2000 Professor Ing E. Vallerani 2000 R. Collette 2000 Sir Donald Spiers 2001 A. Welch OBE 2001 Dr B. Halse 2001 J. Bechat