Monthly Talks Programme
These take place on the last Thursday of each month at 19:30 (No Talks are held in August and December). The price for Talks at the Fleet Air Arm Museum for 2024 is £6.00. We are continuing to improve the standard of our live Zoom option with the aim of widening the audience for these talks. The cost for this option is £4.00.
Access for Thursday evening Talks at the Fleet Air Arm Museum is via the ground floor access gate, which is to the left of the main entrance stairs. Ring the bell on the sign to the left of the gate and a staff member will come and let you in.
Guests and non members are very welcome at the Museum or on Zoom. Tea/Coffee, Wine and Soft Drinks are available for a donation in the FAAM Auditorium before the presentation starts and also in the interval.
These are very popular events and we encourage you to purchase tickets beforehand to ensure entry. Entry is possible on the door of the night of the Talk but only if the maximum capacity has not been reached. Pre-paid tickets are guaranteed entry as priority will be given to pre-paid ticket holders. Tickets are available online via PayPal. Other payment options are available by BACS and Cheque. Please note: there is a cut off for purchasing advance tickets on the Tuesday before a Thursday Talk at 19:30 when the PayPal links will be disabled. Any payments received after the cut-off will be held over to the following month’s Talk.
NON SoFFAAM MEMBERS
Are very welcome to our Thursday evening Talks both at the Fleet Air Arm Museum and on Zoom. Consider joining SoFFAAM to get the benefits of entry to the Museum and other society privileges. See our Membership page HERE.
NB. We do not issue physical tickets. Names will be added to the audience attendance list at the Museum Auditorium. You will be asked for your Surname and checked-in on the night. The same is for Zoom where you will be checked as you log-in. Zoom links are sent out 48 hours before the talk takes place. For further details on any of the monthly talks, please contact us.
Vic Flintham – Rover David and how the Desert Air Force gave Hitler his Dunkirk moment.
(close air support to the 8th Army 1940 to 1945)
Thursday 24 April 2025 at 19.30
This talk traces the history of close air support as it evolved in the Mediterranean theatre. This was the most refined system during the Second World War, leading to the largest close air support missions of all time, Operation Wowser.
Aviation historian Vic Flintham CRAeS has researched British military aviation for sixty years and is the author of numerous articles and eight books some of which have become standard references. In the late 1990s, while running his management consultancy business, he undertook Government-sponsored research on strategic bombing that paid for him to take flying lessons with British Airways Flying Club. He gained his PPL(A) licence (plus IMC(R)) at the age of 60 and flew a shared Piper Archer, then his own SportCruiser, from Fowlmere aerodrome in Cambridgeshire. After 750 hours and landings in such exotic locations as Berlin Tempelhof, Madrid Cuatro Vientos, Venice S Nicolo and Madeira Funchal he has hung up his headset.
Having recently completed a two-volume work on RAF close air support in the Mediterranean theatre during the Second World War latest book on the RAF and FAA in Greece 1940-1950 is with the publisher. Vic is a liveryman of the Honourable Company of Air Pilots and outside aviation his interests include photography and philately.
Payment options for this Talk will be available at the end of March:
April 2025 Talk Payment Information.
Members and guests attending at the FAA Museum is £6.00ea and Zoom £4.00ea. You can also pay on the door on the night to see this Talk, but priority will be given to pre-paid tickets if the hall capacity is reached.
PLEASE NOTE: there is a cut off for purchasing advanced tickets on the Tuesday prior to the Talk at 19:30 when the PayPal link will be disabled. Any BACS or Cheque payments received after this time will be held over to the following months Talk.
PayPal
To attend at the Museum is £6.00
To pay by PayPal please click HERE.
We do not issue physical tickets. PayPal informs us you have paid and your name will be added to the audience attendance list at the Museum Auditorium. You will be asked for your Surname and checked-in on the night.
PayPal Zoom
To attend on Zoom is £4.00
To pay by PayPal please click HERE.
We do not issue physical tickets. PayPal informs us you have paid and your name will be added to the Zoom attendance list and checked-in online on the night.
BACS
BANK: Lloyds Bank plc. Sort Code: 30-99-98 Account No: 00857987
Please reference the payment with your Surname/April so we know which talk you are paying for.
For Zoom, you must email soffaam.joinup@gmail.com requesting your Zoom invite. Please advise your payment is for the April 2025 Talk.
Zoom links will be sent 48 hours ahead of the Talk. If you have not received one by 24 hours ahead of the Talk, please contact soffaam.joinup@gmail.com
Cheque
Please send a cheque payable to SoFFAAM:
Membership Secretary, Coombe View, 1 Coombe Villas, Coombe Orchard, Chapel Street, Axmouth, Devon, EX12 4AU.
Please reference the payment with your Surname/April so we know which talk you are paying for.
For Zoom, you must email soffaam.joinup@gmail.com requesting your Zoom invite. Please advise your payment is for the April 2025 Talk.
Zoom links will be sent 48 hours ahead of the Talk. If you have not received one by 24 hours ahead of the Talk, please contact soffaam.joinup@gmail.com
Tony Buttler AMRAeS : Sea Vixen – 1950s Fleet Fighter
Saturday 17 May 2025 at 2:00pm
The society welcomes writer, author and aviation historian Tony Buttler for this Saturday afternoon lecture on the Sea Vixen. He has a special interest in prototype and pre-production military aircraft and this talk promises to be a real treat for naval aviation fans.
By 1960 the Fleet Air Arm had seen a potent increase to its jet armoury with first the Scimitar and then de Havilland’s Sea Vixen entering naval air squadron service. They did so on the back of a defence white paper that specified that missiles rather than manned aircraft would be the future.
Sea Vixen’s design specification was for an all-weather, missile-armed high-speed jet fighter to replace the two-seat Sea Venom and it became the first British military aircraft to have no gun; being armed only with missiles, rockets and bombs.
After a lengthy development the type finally made its first carrier landing on Ark Royal in 1957 and saw operational front-line introduction in July 1959.
Tony’s talk will steer us through this classic Cold War jet’s design evolution, troubled testing and subsequent service entry as the Fleet Air Arm’s main fleet air defence fighter before its eventual replacement in the late 1960s by the Phantom.
Payment options for this SATURDAY Talk are below.
Saturday 17 May 2025 Talk Payment Information.
Members and guests attending at the FAA Museum is £6.00ea. You can also pay on the door on the day to see this Talk, but priority will be given to pre-paid tickets if the hall capacity is reached.
PLEASE NOTE: ENTRY TO THE MUSEUM IS NOT INCLUDED IN THE TALK TICKET PRICE. IF YOU ARE NOT A SoFFAAM MEMBER, YOU ALSO HAVE TO PURCHASE MUSEUM ENTRY. CLICK HERE FOR FAAM TICKET PURCHASE
There is a cut off for purchasing advanced tickets on the Thursday prior to the Talk at 14:00 when the PayPal link will be disabled. Any BACS or Cheque payments received after this time will be held over to the following months Talk.
PayPal
To attend at the Museum is £6.00
To pay by PayPal please click HERE.
We do not issue physical tickets. PayPal informs us you have paid and your name will be added to the audience attendance list at the Museum Auditorium. You will be asked for your Surname and checked-in on the night.
PayPal Zoom
To attend on Zoom is £4.00
To pay by PayPal please click HERE.
We do not issue physical tickets. PayPal informs us you have paid and your name will be added to the Zoom attendance list and checked-in online on the night.
BACS
BANK: Lloyds Bank plc. Sort Code: 30-99-98 Account No: 00857987
Please reference the payment with your Surname/SatMay so we know which talk you are paying for.
For Zoom, you must email soffaam.joinup@gmail.com requesting your Zoom invite. Please advise your payment is for the May Saturday 2025 Talk.
Zoom links will be sent 48 hours ahead of the Talk. If you have not received one by 24 hours ahead of the Talk, please contact soffaam.joinup@gmail.com
Cheque
Please send a cheque payable to SoFFAAM:
Membership Secretary, Coombe View, 1 Coombe Villas, Coombe Orchard, Chapel Street, Axmouth, Devon, EX12 4AU.
Please reference the payment with your Surname/SatMay so we know which talk you are paying for.
For Zoom, you must email soffaam.joinup@gmail.com requesting your Zoom invite. Please advise your payment is for the May Saturday 2025 Talk.
Zoom links will be sent 48 hours ahead of the Talk. If you have not received one by 24 hours ahead of the Talk, please contact soffaam.joinup@gmail.com
2025
Sqn Ldr (retd) Micheal Morison – The Jaguar’s front-line role during the Cold War
Thursday 29 May 2025
Gp Capt. (retd) David Drew – Operation Carthage
Thursday 26 June 2025
Lt Keith Mills RM (retd) – The Battle for South Georgia
Thursday 31 July 2025
Terry Powell – RN Clearance Divers in Op Granby (Gulf War I)
Thursday 25 September 2025
Sqn Ldr (retd) Joe Marsden – Canberra Target towing, in the firing line of Royal Naval gunners and Army missile operators
Thursday 30 October 2025
TBC
Thursday 27 November 2025