Summary: Hawker Siddeley test pilot A. W. “Bill” Bedford gives his audience an insight into the challenges facing test pilots in the 1960s and the years ahead. He also highlights the role and key qualities required of a test pilot, together with an appeal for the pilots and scientist to work closer together. The recording includes a fascinating discussion from the floor, with points raised by the leading test pilots of the day, including Brian Trubshaw, D. P. Davies and Capt. Eric “Winkle” Brown. There are also tributes from, amongst others, Sir Sydney Camm and Sir Morien Morgan. Bill Bedford gave the inaugural Royal Aeronautical Society Test Pilots Group Lecture on 16 April 1964 and the lecture was chaired by the President of the Royal Aeronautical Society, Professor A. R. Collar. The podcast was edited by Mike Stanberry FRAeS and it was digitised thanks to a grant from the Royal Aeronautical Society Foundation.
