July 18

Harrogate Town Council had called a meeting to reconsider the question of flying from the Stray.

Owing to the opposition which the restrictions imposed by the council had aroused, it was decided to reduce the weekly rental of £5 to be paid by airmen for the use of the Stray to 10s per week.

This small charge was made, it was stated, because the airmen did not contribute directly to the rates but still made use of the Stray, which was the town’s property.

Some amplification was made of the regulations regarding Sunday flying, the protests against which had led to retaliation in the form of window-smashing at the protestor’s shop.

While the prohibition on Sundays was still adhered to, it was decided that airmen could arrive and depart so long as it was not in church hours.

A special committee was appointed to negotiate for a piece of land bordering up to the south side of the Stray for the erection of permanent hangars, and meanwhile the hangars were to be moved to the far side away from the high road and the houses.

50 years ago

London to New York in three hours flying across the Atlantic at 1500mph – that was the latest “technical” achievement by a group of BOAC pilots.

But they did it without leaving the ground. The airline had begun supersonic tests using a flight simulator, so when the Concord came into service about 1970, there would be pilots already familiar with flying at twice the speed of sound.

Almost a dozen simulated supersonic flights had been made on the London-New York pattern.

Pilots had “flown” the route cruising up to Mach 2.2 (Mach 1 being the speed of sound) and at up to 63,000ft (current jets cruised normally at a little under 40,000ft). The supersonic tests had been carried out at BOAC’s London Airport training centre.

25 years ago

Karen Todd was the new boffin on the computer circuit in Ryedale.

She also broke fresh ground as the only female engineer employed by JB Research, of Station Road, Helmsley.

The firm specialised in microwave components, but there was not an oven in sight, according to Karen, aged 24. Her job would be to research and develop products for satellite receiving stations and radar systems.

“When I tell people I’m in electronic engineering they think I repair television sets.”

Her high-tech firm employed a staff of ten and up until this month, all the technical experts were men. “My school was an all-girls one, but when I was at university, I was the only girl on a course of 31. I was just another student, regardless of sex.”