Welcome to BIS West Midlands
For general branch information visit https://www.bis-space.com/branches/
Branch Announcements
Unfortunately, in November 2023 our Chairman John Harlow passed away. John will be much missed by all new him! The loss of John has led to a re-organisation of job roles
If you would like to help out with the running of the West Midlands Branch or just want to get in touch please email us, with the subject: ‘Support West Midlands’.
If you would like to be added to the West Midlands Membership list so that the Branch can contact you directly about talks, events and other Branch matters please e-mail us with the subject: ‘West Midlands Membership’
Contacting BIS West Midlands
The West Midlands Branch has an active Facebook group.
Email BIS West Midlands at biswestmidsec@bis-space.com
West Midlands Activities
Tales (or maybe Tails) of a Rocket Retriever!
On a Sunday afternoon in February our Labrador/Spaniel cross Max let me know that it was time for a walk. So off to the local playing fields we went!
Now dog walking tends to be a very social exercise chatting to other dog walkers and playing with the dogs and on this particular afternoon Max met a new pal and was having a great time chasing round in the meantime I got chatting with the other dog owner who turned out to be a secondary school Physics teacher who when I mentioned the BIS and the West Midlands Branch was interested in the possibility of me doing a talk to his sixth form students. Back when I was still working for a living one of my roles was distributing surplus former display rocket propulsion hardware to museums. During which time I accumulated various duplicate items not wanted by museums (hence Rocket Retriever!). So, I of course offered a talk on British Rocket Propulsion illustrated by items from my collection this was eagerly accepted.
So, I popped down to the secondary school with some display boards highlighting the activities of the former Rocket Propulsion Establishment Westcott and a car load of hardware.
On the day I gave two talks to students variously studying Physics Chemistry and Maths with plenty of time to ask questions and critically handle real Space qualified hardware a rare chance!
Topics covered included – Intro to Solid and Liquid Propellant Rockets, Start of British Rocketry, Congreve, Propellant Chemistry advances in the 19th century, British Rocketry during WWII and Post WWII Solid Propellant Rocket Propulsion illustrated by ref to examples on show including – Skua MET (sounding rocket) – The green beastie in the picture above, T7 Polaris Fairing Eject Motor Liquid Propellant Rocket Propulsion illustrated by ref to examples on show including – The Twin Chamber Propulsion Unit (TCPU) – Polaris Penetration Aid Carrier (PAC) post boost propulsion system. The unit featured storable propellants in piston tanks Combustion Chambers and injector components from Leros Bi-propellant rocket engines and Thrusters and Hydrazine mono-propellant thrusters I completed the talks with a few words on careers in the Rocket and Space industry. There was plenty of interaction and questions (critically no one dosed off).
Another Triumph for the West Midlands Branch of the BIS!
by Mark Perman
Smallspace 11
Special Effects Guru and BIS Fellow Mat Irvine organises Smallspace. The model show for all things Space, Science Fiction and Fantasy. I spotted the event on Facebook and contacted Mat asking if he would like me to bring along my Skua Sounding Rocket as the “smallest” of the British sounding rockets he agreed so I popped down to this excellent/fascinating event. Its well worth a visit with wonderful models and interesting people. Mat has promised to invite West Midlands next year so we will take a lot more exhibits and of course publicise the event, so see you there, in the meantime here are a few photo’s from the day (Not that many photo’s as I was kept pretty busy talking rocketry!)
West Midlands Future Events
Please register using the links on the West Midlands BIS BRANCH PAGE or the BIS EVENTS or the links on the relevant events on the West Midlands Facebook group or of course the HQ website.
Full details are available on the relevant events on the HQ website events page or on the West Midlands Facebook group events page (see contact details above).
Potential Trip
The West Midlands Branch is considering organising a trip to and tour of the Space guard Centre. The Spaceguard Centre | The National Near Earth Objects Information Centre on a Saturday or Sunday later in 2024 or early in 2025 and in order to understand if there is enough demand, we need your help.
Please e-mail the branch with ‘Spaceguard Trip’ and also give an indication of No’s attending.