On February 12th 2020 Bob Catterson entertained members with recollections of his travels while working in the USA at Boeing, leading wing hydraulics design at Renton and Everett on the B.757 and 737-300, and during subsequent annual visits.

Bob started at HSA Kingston as a graduate trainee in 1974, working in Mechanical Systems from 1976 until moving to Boeing in 1980. He rejoined HSA in 1983 becoming Harrier II (UK) Engineering Manager and Design Authority for mechanical and electrical systems.

He moved to BAe Filton in 2000 leading studies for future naval projects, retiring in 2011 as Chief Systems Engineer and Project Director in Strategic Capability Solutions. He is a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society.
    Bob showed excellent photographs of the many National and State Parks that he had visited, and gave some interesting facts about each one. As the talk was essentially visual this report is really a list of where Bob went in his extensive travels. To see what these amazing places look like just Google them and then go to visit them yourselves when we can travel again. A few years ago your editor did a month long tour covering many of the National Parks (NP) mentioned by Bob. They are wonderful natural areas, all with expertly organised and perfectly maintained facilities, and friendly staff and wardens. You can buy a ‘season ticket’ which gives reduced prices for each NP you visit.
    Yosemite NP, California, is famous for the stunning monochrome photographs by Ansell Adams and the 5,769 ft El Capitan vertical rock formation, a Mecca for climbers.

Scenic Highlights In The USA & American Air Museums

Toptop toptoptop
    Zion NP, Utah has its spectacular Canyon overlook view.
    Crater Lake NP, Oregon. This near circular lake was formed by an eruption 7700 years ago, is 1943 ft deep and 6 miles across at the widest point. The water level never changes because the snow melt is balanced by evaporation.
    Bryce Canyon NP, Utah has strange Hoodoos, tower-like rock formations formed by frost and rain erosion.
    Grand Canyon NP, Arizona. This world-famous canyon, formed by the Colorado River, is one mile deep and up to 18 miles wide.
    Yellowstone NP, Wyoming, Idaho and Montana. In this vast park is the famous Old Faithful geyser, the colourful Chromatic Pool and Lower Falls.
    Death Valley NP, California and Nevada. Badwater Basin is the hottest, lowest and driest place in North America with a maximum recorded temperature of 134 deg F (57 deg C). Other notable sites are Zabriskie Point and the Devils Golf Course.
    Arches NP, Utah, has numerous amazing sandstone arches caused by erosion and resistance.
    Canyon de Chelly NM (National Monument), Arizona, is on Navajo Nation tribal lands and features towering sandstone cliffs.
    Horseshoe Bend NRA (National Recreation Area), Page, Arizona is a horseshoe shaped depression carved out by a meander of the Colorado River.
    Dead Horse Point State Park, Utah, overlooks, from 2000 ft, canyon lands and the Colorado River.
    Monument Valley Navajo Nation Tribal Park, Arizona, has many huge buttes, volcano cores left standing after erosion of the surrounding sandstone, often seen in ‘western’ movies.
    Las Vegas, Nevada, not an NP but an amazing gambling city in the desert with hotels and casinos in spectacular architectural fakes of famous buildings and structures such as the Eiffel Tower.
    Camden Harbor, Maine, a picturesque seaside village.
    El Mirage Lake, California. A dry lake used for off-highway vehicle recreational activities such as straight line speed racing.
    Route 66 runs from Chicago to Los Angeles through small towns. Once important but now by-passed by highways it is being revived as a tourist attraction.
    Sequoia NP, California has giant redwood trees up to 3000 years old, the largest trees on earth.
    Taos, New Mexico, is famous for its fine adobe buildings.
    Cass Scenic Railway SP, West Virginia contains an eleven mile operating heritage railroad.
    Mesa Verde NP, Colorado, has Pueblo villages of some 600 cliff dwellings abandoned after 700 years of occupation.
    Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area, Oregon, has a canyon eighty miles long and up to 4000 ft deep.
    After this ‘grand tour’ of some of the most spectacular US scenery Bob moved on to his visits to many air museums (you can Google these, too.) He organised this into a quiz asking the audience to write down the names of aircraft in his photographs.

The museums covered were: the Pima Air and Space Museum, Arizona; the Planes of Fame Museum, Chino, California; the Museum of Flight Restoration Center, Seattle; the Castle Air Museum, Atwater, California; the Hill Aerospace Museum, Roy, Utah; the Historic Flight Foundation, Washington; the Flight Heritage Collection, Seattle; the Palm Springs Air Museum, California; the Evergreen Air & Space Museum, Oregon; the Museum of Flight, Seattle; the Owls Head Transport Museum, Maine; the WAAAM (Western Antique Aeroplane & Automobile Museum), Oregon.

    The quiz was very enjoyable and caused a certain amount of good natured arguing. Winners were given a nice chocolate bar treat by Bob (I certainly enjoyed mine - Ed)