The University of Glasgow
One of the more local venues favoured
by the members of Branch 1355 is the University of Glasgow.
An annual event is the Pilchard
Memorial Lecture and on 23rd March 2004 this was given by Jock Reid, M.B.E.
The Title of his talk was “Supersonic
Passenger Transport - Past, Present and Future”
Jock joined the RAF [Cranwell] in
1996 eventually a fighter pilot with 11(F) Squadron at RAF Leuchars. Having,
later, attended the US Navy Test Pilot School he spent three years flight
testing fighters and trainers at Boscombe Down.
He then joined the CAA as an
airworthiness test pilot in 1983, being promoted Chief Test Pilot in 1995.
Whilst with the CAA he flew a wide variety of aircraft with special emphasis
on the Boeing 747, in all variants, and especially the Concorde. At the
invitation of BA he participated in the Concorde flypast for the opening of the
Scottish Parliament and for the Queen’s Jubilee. He also participated in the
return to service tests after the Gonesse accident, finally retiring in
September 2003.
The Pilcher Memorial Lectures cover
anything connected with flying and are given to an audience of academics,
students, interested people not excluding the golden oldies of 1355. Background
knowledge may be found anywhere between Bernouilli and Broadband though
sometimes ‘hands on’ experience of a long forgotten variant can be
priceless.
Jock Reid had something for everyone.
His talk was quiet, restrained and apparently [almost] casual. Like his
professional work it was meticulously prepared and; I suspect, we saw not much
more than the tip of the iceberg. He could have lectured on at a significantly
higher academic standard just as easily lectured on at a lower ‘thrills and
spills’ standard.
All of this was backed up by a total
mastery of the technical mastery of the audio visual aids which left a former
member of the educational community totally envious !! A great
night.
Afterwards there is a generous buffet
where the varied age groups and interests are free to mingle and meet up with
old friends not seen since the previous year.
Photographs within the theatre are
difficult so I have chosen to include a photograph from another venue popular
with Branch 1355; the Collins Gallery in the University of
Strathclyde.
