The Air League office will be closed over the Christmas holiday period. The office will close for business on Tuesday 23 December 2008 and re-open on Monday, 5 January 2009.

Applications for membership and for our flying, gliding and engineering competitions originared or sent during that period will be processed when the office re-opens.

Please enquire at exec@airleague.co.uk.

The November/December 2008 edition of the League's newsletter can be viewed by clicking here.

Please enquire at exec@airleague.co.uk.

The Air League Educational Trust is offering flying scholarships to be flown in the summer of 2009. The awards are for 12 hours flying instruction. Air Cadets are eligible for a number of special awards.

Selection will be based on a formal application and, after short-listing, either an interview at the Trust’s London office or on aptitude tests and interview at RAF Cranwell around Easter 2009.

The competition is open to young people permanently resident in the UK who will have reached their 17th but not their 26th birthday on 1 April 2009.

Closing date for completed application forms is 30 January 2009.

Send your name and address to scholarships@airleague.co.uk for an application form or download a form now.

This lecture will be given by Major General Barney White-Spunner CBE, General Officer Commanding 3rd (UK) Division, on Tuesday, 17 February 2009 at 6.30 pm at The Willis Building, 51 Lime Street, London EC3M 7DQ. His lecture is entitled: "Helicopters in Modern Warfare: Panacea or Passing Fashion?".

The lecture will be followed by a reception. Admission to the lecture and reception is free for members and there is a small charge for personal guests. An application form for this event including the speaker's biography and a lecture summary can be downloaded by clicking here.

We expect this lecture to be oversubscribed and applications will be dealt with strictly in order of receipt so please apply early to avoid disappointment.

The facilities and the reception have been most generously provided by Willis.

For admission and other details please enquire at events@airleague.co.uk

As UK Aerospace enters its Second Century this conference has been called by SBAC and Cityforum to examine how to maximise the prospects for one of the two remaining high tech manufacturing sectors where Britain maintains a globally competitive level of performance.

The agenda pays equal attention to the civil and defence sectors. While emphasising the national context as is appropriate to a centenary event, the programme for this conference is set in global terms with a thorough examination of the challenges to its future from foreign competition. The size and shape of markets is bound to be affected by the turbulent events currently taking place in the international economy. The consequences of these developments feature in the December 8/9 discussions.

Developed in three parts, The Second Century for UK Aerospace starts with an examination of the future for the civil business as well as for defence aerospace. A distinguished panel of experts assesses how markets will develop and how British manufacturers and service providers – large, medium and small – can best achieve continuing success. Government support is of exceptional importance to the future of the aerospace industry since the UK does not own a share in a major civil airframe manufacturer. This is reflected in the agenda. Defence aerospace, very successful in overseas markets today, is dependent on future British air power ambitions, the programmes that follow and the ability to work, with government support, in export markets and in collaborative ventures abroad. US thinking on air power in the future is also hugely important and this is the theme of a keynote speech by General T Michael Moseley in the opening session.

A second part of the conference looks at Space as an area for growth in a major and burgeoning area for business. An intriguing panel discusses the opportunities for industry in both space security and transport provision.
The final part of the forum brings together expert financial speakers to examine current attitudes and future thinking in the context of stock markets and other investment vehicles.

The discussion embraces both the immediate future and the longer term outlook. This session leads on to two major contributions from Mr Åke Svensson and M Louis Gallois.

If you wish to attend this event on 8/9 December please click here to download the flyer and apply directly to Cityforum.