Save the date for the 2024 Royal Aeronautical Society’s President’s Conference: Design, Build, Fly, taking place on 15-17 October 2024 at RAeS HQ, 4 Hamilton Place, London, hosted by the Society’s President 2024-2025, David Chinn FRAeS.

Design, Build, Fly (DBF) is a new initiative which aims to address the skills gap in the UK aerospace, aviation and space sectors of people with expertise covering all three elements of designing, building and flying an aircraft or rocket. The first two days of the conference will focus on aviation while the third day will focus on space.

Drawing inspiration from the German Akafliegs – an initiative where aeronautical engineering students team up to design, build and fly small aircraft – DBF aims to build a new collaborative community to develop these cross-cutting skills among young aerospace professionals and students in the UK, creating a platform to learn from each other and develop valuable skills to bridge theoretical knowledge with practical project development.

This conference will present insights from experts in each element of Design, Build, Fly, as well as personal stories and examples from the German Akafliegs and other collaborative initiatives, to discuss how we can bring these elements together to build a stronger, more cohesive and more resilient aerospace sector in the UK and equip young people with crosscutting skills for real-world application. By encouraging conversations across the industry, DBF aims to support the whole aerospace sector by building a skilled workforce which will benefit future innovation in aerospace, aviation and space.

Building this community is a challenge, so this event presents a unique opportunity to shape the DBF initiative and get involved right from the start. Join us to be part of the conversation.