‘Showmen and the RFC: Early Aviation in Ireland 1909-14’

Lough Ree Yacht Club, Athlone – 8.15pm, Wednesday, 22 February, 2017

Talk by Guy Warner

Summary – “Few people nowadays are able to visualise the difficulties and dangers of learning to fly in 1910…flying was in the experimental stage, it was impossible to predict how the frail and flimsy structure would behave in the air.”  – Captain Frederick Sykes, writing in 1940.

Guy Warner, Aviation, Ireland

The cover of Guy’s latest publication

This lecture will be based on Guy Warner’s brand new, fully illustrated, account of early aviation in Ireland. He will describe and examine the key events in the field of aviation during the years between Harry Ferguson’s first flight and the outbreak of the First World War. The lecture will cover the people, the aircraft and the places involved, and will make much use of contemporary sources to reveal the story through the eyes of those who witnessed these exciting times. All the main personalities will be covered, as well as new research on several hitherto lesser known pioneers.
 
Speaker – Guy Warner is a retired schoolteacher and former MOD civil servant, who grew up in Newtownabbey in Northern Ireland, attending Abbots Cross Primary School and Belfast High School before going to Leicester University and later Stranmillis College. He now lives in Greenisland, County Antrim with his wife Lynda. He also has two grown up daughters and three grandchildren. He is the author of 28 books and booklets on aviation past and present and has written hundreds of articles for magazines in the UK, Ireland and the USA. He also reviews books for several publications, gives talks to local history societies etc and has appeared on TV and radio programmes, discussing aspects of aviation history.
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