John Romain MBE is a distinguished engineer, display pilot, and commercially successful aircraft restorer whose career has placed him at the forefront of historic aviation. He began his journey as a technician apprenticeship at Hawker Siddeley Dynamics and British Aerospace before helping restore Graham Warner’s Blenheim and founding the Aircraft Restoration Company, which now employs over seventy people working on the maintenance and restoration of classic aircraft.

As a pilot, John has flown an exceptional range of historic types, including the Lysander, Blenheim, B-17, B-25, Corsair, Me 109, Hurricane and numerous Spitfires.

Romain's renowned skills at display filming have taken him into major film productions, notably serving as Tom Cruise’s stunt pilot in Mission Impossible – The Final Reckoning and contributing to Dunkirk.

John’s life story reflects one of modest beginnings, great endeavour and a dedication to preserving aviation heritage.

John Romain MBE was interviewed by Keith Cameron in 2025 as part of the Royal Aeronautical Society/National Aerospace Library’s oral history project ‘If I only didn’t do it that way…….” Capturing history from the horse’s mouth to inspire today’s aeronautical professionals. The recording was edited by edited by Eur Ing Mike Stanberry FRAeS.

A transcript of the interview recording is available on the National Aerospace Library catalogue: https://www.podbean.com/eas/pb-5eha4-19f1da8

The photograph of John Romain shows him sat in the Spitfire XI that he restored and first flew again in 2018. The aircraft, nicknamed “Eleven” and “L”, was named in honour of pioneering aviator Lettice Curtis. In 1948, Curtis famously flew the aircraft when she set the British women’s record for the fastest time over a 100-kilometre closed-circuit course, achieving a speed of 313.208 mph.

The National Aerospace Library holds the certificate for Lettice Curtis’s record-breaking flight, along with a rich collection of papers and photographs documenting her life and work. These include material relating to her service with the Air Transport Auxiliary, her logbooks, and her post-war aviation career.

You can find out more here: https://www.aerosociety.com/news/eleanor-lettice-curtis-a-british-aviation-pioneer

In the latest podcast in series from the Royal Aeronautical Society's monthly AEROSPACE magazine, Editor in Chief Tim Robinson, Deputy Editor Stephen Bridgewater and Features Editor Bella Richards analyse recent aviation, aerospace and space news - and preview the latest (December 2025) edition of the magazine. Meanwhile, Seth Moffat, Chair of the RAeS Flight Operations Group talks to ex-Emirates Airlines Divisional Senior Vice President Flight Operations, Capt Alan Stealey about the global carriers' incredible history.

Concorde Test pilot Alan Smith’s path to BAC took him to flying Meteors and Venoms for the RAF and a colourful life in the pilot’s seat for smaller airlines in the late 1950s and into the 1960s. In this first interview, Alan Smith shares how he discovered his passion for aviation and recounts the early years of his RAF flying career, leading to his transition into civil airlines and ultimately becoming a Concorde test pilot. Through his stories, he brings to life the excitement of flying a wide variety of aircraft and the memorable pilots he met along the way.

Born in Newcastle upon Tyne in 1933, Alan Smith grew up beside the bustling Vickers-Armstrongs shipyard and started out as an apprentice plumber. But the skies were calling: on his 15th birthday in 1948, he joined the Air Cadets. A gliding course at RAF Ouston quickly earned him his A and B certificates, and he took part in cadet flights, including a memorable ride in a Lancaster at RAF Leuchars.

Soon after, he won a flying scholarship, clocked 30 hours on Tiger Moths, and earned his private pilot’s licence by early 1951. As the 100th recipient, he celebrated at the Royal Aero Club in London, where Lord Brabazon of Tara - holder of Aviator’s Certificate No. 1 -  personally presented him with Certificate No. 27,000.

Just weeks later, Alan left plumbing and the Newcastle shipyards behind to join the RAF. After basic training at RAF Cranwell, he began flying at No. 6 Flying Training School, RAF Ternhill, where he flew solo after just 60 hours on the Percival Prentice. Alan Smith recalls meeting Wing Commander Flying Downey at the bar of the officers’ mess whilst celebrating the milestone of his first RAF solo flight.

He was then posted to RAF Middleton St George for advanced training on the Harvard, followed by a jet conversion course at 205 Advanced Flying School on the same Teesside airfield, flying the Gloster Meteor F.4 and T.7. He describes flying to Newcastle, diving over the city and being able to look down to see if his mother was in the back garden.

Alan’s next posting was to 228 Operational Conversion Unit at RAF Leeming for night-flying training, which included an exhilarating nocturnal flight in a de Havilland Mosquito, rendezvousing with a Meteor with no lights. He was then assigned to RAF Wahn near Cologne, West Germany, flying Meteor night fighters for two and a half years with the 2nd Tactical Air Force. He recalls incidents involving fellow pilots and one mission when he ran out of fuel and crash-landed after his hood became stuck.

Back in Britain, his hopes of becoming an RAF instructor at the Central Flying School were dashed when the Commandant disapproved of his lack of sporting experience. Instead, he joined 89 Squadron at RAF Stradishall, flying de Havilland Venom Mk 3 night fighters. When the unit was unexpectedly disbanded, he was pleasantly surprised to be appointed Officer-in-Charge of Stradishall’s Station Flight, overseeing the dispersal of 13 aircraft of five different types. During this period, he also completed an Instrument Flying Rating course on a Vickers Varsity at RAF Debden. However, Alan did not see himself as a Career Officer and left the RAF in April 1959 after seven years’ service.

Driven by his ambition to become an airline pilot, he next moved to London with his young family and studied for an Airline Transport Pilot’s Licence. He had to prove his skills all over again and passed with a twin-engine rating just eight months later. 

Alan Smith talked with Julian Temple, Heritage Archivist for BAE Systems Heritage, on 1 March 2024. The recording was edited for podcast by Eur Ing Mike Stanberry FRAeS and is published by kind permission of BAE Systems for the Royal Aeronautical Society/National Aerospace Library’s oral history project ‘If I only didn’t do it that way…….” Capturing history from the horse’s mouth to inspire today’s aeronautical professionals. Further interviews with Alan Smith will be released in future podcasts.

A transcript of the interview recording is available on the National Aerospace Library catalogue: Alan Smith oral history interview | National Aerospace Library

Rival stealth fighters, eVTOLs in the air display and the 40th anniversary of the global airline giant that is Emirates, make this year’s Dubai Airshow the most exciting yet. AEROSPACE Editor in Chief TIM ROBINSON FRAeS and Deputy Editor STEPHEN BRIDGEWATER FRAeS preview the show

In the latest podcast in series from the Royal Aeronautical Society's monthly AEROSPACE magazine, Editor in Chief Tim Robinson, Deputy Editor Stephen Bridgewater and Features Editor Bella Richards analyse recent aviation, aerospace and space news - and preview the latest (November 2025) edition of the magazine. Plus in our regular Specialist Group Insight segment, the RAeS Flight Operations Group explore the art of fuel planning for airline pilots. Find out more at www.aerosociety.com

Philip Jarrett HonCRAeS is Britain’s foremost historian on the early days of aviation and spent his early career working on the production side for some of the most respected aviation titles such as the Aeroplane Monthly, Flight International, and the first days of the Royal Aeronautical Society’s AEROSPACE magazine.

Philip takes us through how his love of aviation was kindled and encouraged by many of the great aviation historians, such as Charles Gibbs-Smith and the charismatic figures he encountered at early Air-Britain and Cross and Cockade meetings, together with visits to the Aviation Bookshop and the Royal Aeronautical Society’s library.

Philip offers a fascinating insight into the people working behind the scenes to produce aviation magazines and paints a vivid picture of life working at the Royal Aeronautical Society during the 1960s.

Philip also sheds light on the ever-evolving world of magazine production from the 1960s to 1990s, explaining how the process of producing aviation magazines evolved over the period. In addition, he provides an insider’s perspective on the production of aviation books, notably his role in bringing together the six published volumes in the Putnam’s History of Aircraft series. 

Philip concludes by discussing the trials and tribulations of writing history, including the challenges of deciphering the rapid evolution of aeroplanes before the First World War and how to winkle-out amazing material from libraries and archives across the world. He also gives us the low-down on the controversy over who was the first Briton to fly: A.V. Roe or Samuel Cody.

Philip Jarrett HonCRAeS was interviewed by Tony Pilmer FRAeS as part of the Royal Aeronautical Society/National Aerospace Library’s oral history project ‘If I only didn’t do it that way…….” Capturing history from the horse’s mouth' to inspire today’s aeronautical professionals'. The recording was edited by Eur Ing Mike Stanberry FRAeS.

A transcript of the interview recording is available on the National Aerospace Library catalogue

In the latest podcast in series from the Royal Aeronautical Society's monthly AEROSPACE magazine, Editor in Chief Tim Robinson, Deputy Editor Stephen Bridgewater and Features Editor Jack Richardson analyse recent aviation, aerospace and space news - and preview the latest (September 2025) edition of the magazine. 

From working on the Miles Marathon and an early drone for ML Aviation to certifying the Boeing 747, Derek Ruben enjoyed a remarkable and distinguished career as an aeronautical engineer. Inspired as a schoolboy in the 1920s by the sight of airships over London and further encouraged in the 1930s by seeing Alan Cobham’s ‘Flying Circus’. Now 104 years old, Derek recalls starting aeronautical engineering degree in the first few months of the Second World War, and enjoying attending one of the earliest post-war courses at the newly established College of Aeronautics at Cranfield.

His career spanned an extraordinary breadth of experience. Recruited to the aerodynamics department at Miles Aircraft during 1942, amongst other projects, he contributed to the Miles Marathon, groundbreaking Miles M.52 project - which, had it not been cancelled, was poised to become the world’s first supersonic aircraft. He went on to address design challenges in a variety of projects with ML Aviation, including an early British UAV, and worked on the stability of the Beagle B.206. Joining the Aircraft Registration Board in the 1970s, he went onto play a pivotal role certifying the Boeing 747 and Concorde in the UK, including working with certification test pilot D. P.  Davies.

Derek shares stories of the people he met during his studies and throughout his career, a journey that vividly reflects the extraordinary advances in aviation over a single lifetime and the enduring ingenuity of designers and engineers in overcoming new challenges.

Derek Ruben was interviewed by Sir George Cox CRAeS as part of the Royal Aeronautical Society/National Aerospace Library’s oral history project ‘If I only didn’t do it that way…….” Capturing history from the horse’s mouth to inspire today’s aeronautical professionals. The recording was edited by edited by Eur Ing Mike Stanberry FRAeS.

A transcript of the interview recording is available on the National Library's Catalogue

In the latest podcast in series from the Royal Aeronautical Society's monthly AEROSPACE magazine, Editor in Chief Tim Robinson, Deputy Editor Stephen Bridgewater and Features Editor Jack Richardson analyse recent aviation, aerospace and space news - and preview the latest (August 2025) edition of the magazine. In this episode, in the Specialist Group Insight segment, Flight Operations Group Chair talks to Cap Nav Kainth - co-founder and CEO of Athera on the topic on mental health.   Find out more at www.aerosociety.com

From British Aircraft Corporation (BAC) and into BAE Systems (BAe), as one of BAe’s senior lawyers, Philip Riley FRAeS was well positioned to witness the people, the projects and the issues that shaped the British aircraft industry from the mid-1960s to the early years of the present century, living and breathing the roller coaster of amalgamations, nationalisations, mergers and privatisations that characterised the industry during those years.

Philip relished the opportunity to travel the world negotiating contracts and financial packages supporting the sale of aircraft such as the BAC One Eleven whilst working with some of the big names in aviation. During his early years at BAC, he decided to pursue a legal qualification - an ambitious move that ultimately led him to become a member of the company’s Legal Department as an in-house Solicitor. In that role he was involved in major contract negotiations, acquisitions and mergers including the privatisation of BAe, collaboration with Airbus partners and the amalgamation with GEC Marconi in 2000. In this conversation, Philip shares stories about the people he worked with and the challenges that the company faced.

After retiring from BAE Systems, Philip remained passionate about aviation. He became the secretary of the Farnborough Aerodrome Consultative Committee (formed by TAG, the operator of the airport) and subsequently became Chairman of that Committee.

His enthusiasm for aviation heritage led him to play a role in safeguarding heritage within BAe and ensuring that BAe’s rich heritage was preserved and protected for future generations.

As a founding member and the first Chairman of the Royal Aeronautical Society’s Farnborough Branch, Philip has made lasting contributions to the Society. He has also served as Treasurer and a member of the Society’s Council, and was involved in the re-location of the Society’s library to Farnborough (from its London HQ) and in the establishment of the National Aerospace Library at Farnborough. Philip reflects on the town’s rich contribution to the UK’s aviation heritage and its continued importance in the field.

Philip continues to be to be active in the community, currently supporting RAF Odiham in commemorating its centenary and participating in the aviation section of his local U3A branch.

Philip Riley FRAeS talked with Julian Temple, Heritage Archivist for BAE Systems Heritage, on 30 September 2024. The podcast was edited by Eur Ing Mike Stanberry FRAeS and is published by kind permission of BAE Systems for the Royal Aeronautical Society/National Aerospace Library’s oral history project ‘If I only didn’t do it that way…….” Capturing history from the horse’s mouth to inspire today’s aeronautical professionals.

A transcript of the interview recording is available on the National Library's Catalogue: https://raes.soutron.net/Portal/Default/en-GB/RecordView/Index/4182317