Welcome to the Bristol Aero Talks website.
Bristol Aero Talks are a series of talks on aerospace and related high-technology subjects with particular emphasis on the history of Bristol and the surrounding areas.
Bristol Aero Talks is pleased to announce that the new season of talks will start in September, the program is currently being finalised. Talk announcements will be sent out and the website updated as details are confirmed.
Bristol Aero Talks are pleased to say that with the agreement of Sally Cordwell, the CEO of Aerospace Bristol, the talks will continue to be held at Aerospace Bristol. These are normally held on a Tuesday in The John James Theatre but please check the talk announcements as changes to day or location can occur. For information on getting to Aerospace Bristol please see their website at https://aerospacebristol.org/find-us .
In order to cover the costs associated with the talks program such as reimbursing the costs incurred by the speakers we will continue to ask for a donation from attendees when leaving the talk. In the event there is an accrued surplus at the end of the season of talks it will be donated to Aerospace Bristol.
Bristol Aero Talks makes use of e-mail as the primary communications medium and to handle matters efficiently a number of e-mail addresses have been set up - please see the Contact Us page for more information including how to receive talk announcements by e-mail.
NEWS
Bristol Aero Talks are pleased to announce the next talk in the current season.
The Bristol M.1 was a British monoplane fighter that first flew in July 1916 and quickly demonstrated its high speed (for its day). Production started in August 1917 but only small numbers were made (circa 130) due to various factors such as a belief that its landing speed was too great to allow its use on the western front and a general mistrust of monoplanes. As a result, it mainly served in the Middle East and the Balkans.
Only one original Bristol M.1 survives and it is on display at the Harry Butler Memorial, Minlaton, South Australia.
However, the Shuttleworth Collection operates an airworthy replica M1C C4918 powered by an original Le Rhône 110 HP rotary engine. Dodge Bailey, who gave us an earlier talk on flying the Shuttleworth Collection Bristol Boxkite, will describe flying this intriguing (and faster) machine.
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This talk will be held at 7:15 pm on Tuesday March 31st 2026 at Aerospace Bristol in The John James Theatre.
Information on the next scheduled talk can be found by clicking Here
Details of the forthcoming talks program may be found by clicking Here
Information on the earlier talks given under the Bristol Aero Talks banner may be found by clicking Here
To access the talks being made available for remote access click Here
External Events
Not an actual event but it was felt that those who interested in the Bristol Aero Talks would also be interested in an update on the work of The Bristol Britannia Preservation Society who have been working diligently at Kemble to restore the external appearance of the last genuine RAF Britannia aircraft XM496 ‘Regulus’. It now looks resplendent in its new paint job. We understand that the Society welcomes members, whether actively working on the machine or more passively as Friends of the aircraft. Full details are on their website (Click Here) including the dates on which the aircraft can be visited.
Not receiving announcements of talks?
We have been advised that in a few cases the e-mails announcing talks are not being delivered but are instead being trapped by the SPAM filters. We would recommend checking the folder where your ISP sends the e-mails it filters.
For more on this topic please please click on the link below.
