THE1950s
00137 Rockets
At school I had a number of interests. I was secretary of the scientific society, indeed I founded the society. As such I was able to show films in the school's theatre -- and Billy Wilcox and I took full advantage of this for our next hobby; which was car racing. We found the Shell library of films, which included car racing. These were available for free. We ordered them in the name of the scientific society and the two of us sat in the school theatre watching these hour after hour. Thus we saw most of the big rallies of Europe and a few of the Grand Prix events. Although I was fascinated by it at the time, this interest was something I did not follow through in later life. I was atypical, as a family man, because I always bought the cheapest and nastiest cars I could. I wasn't one who lusted after the most expensive, and newest, cars.
Perhaps incidentally, this film viewing also stimulated my interest in moviemaking; though the seminal experience of seeing ‘Gone with the Wind’ may have been the biggest stimulus of all. At that time, although I was supposedly destined to be a scientist but, above all, I really wanted to become a film director. Thus, when I left the school - half way through the upper sixth form - to do six months vac work, my most vigorous applications were to the film industry. The problem was that the film industry was then the most energetic supporter of sending letters which said "...we would love to give you a job just a long as you have your union membership card". On applying to the union you got an equally enthusiastic letter saying "... we will love to have you as a member just as soon as you get a job in the industry"! Thus a closed shop was maintained, which protected those working in the industry, and kept everyone else out. I never did work directly in the industry, but I did eventually work on commercials, in the early part of my career in brand management, and on documentaries at the end of it, with the Open University and the BBC.
My other, more covert, interest was in rocketry -- especially rocket engines. This was in a period when the V2 technology developed by the Germans was being redeveloped by the Americans -- under the guidance of Von Braun who had initiated the V2 work in Germany and went on to lead the work on the Apollo moon landings.
I avidly read everything I could, from the only work of Ziolovsky in Russia and Goddard in the US to - in particular - Hermann Oberth in Germany. I knew all their work on aerodynamics. But in particular I knew their rocket engines inside out; the fuel mixtures, how they were transported to the engine and then how they were burnt in special thrust chambers. I became something of an expert!
Accordingly the other ‘discipline’ I applied for in my vac job was that of working on rockets. I applied to a number of commercial organisations but was turned down by them on the basis that I hadn't a hope in hell of getting into the field. To my surprise, though, I got an interview at the Royal Aircraft Establishment (RAE) at Farnborough; then the UK leaders in the field. I went down to Farnborough, quite a long journey for me at that stage since it was undertaken alone; staying in the hotel just across the road from the establishment. I eventually presented myself for interview by the panel. They asked a lot of difficult questions, but the only really embarrassing one was "How would I measure the air flow over the wings of a plane?" Having read a lot about the subject, I said that I would measure the pressure on the wings, which was the latest technology. They then asked what I thought of sticking bits of wool on the wing and seeing how they blew around -- and I with great confidence said that no one had done that for years! Their answer was that was that was what they were still doing! Even so I got the job!
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