Royal Aero Club

The Royal Aero Club (RAeC) is the national co-ordinating body for air sport in the United Kingdom.

It was initially concerned more with ballooning but after the demonstrations of heavier-than-air flight made by the Wright Brothers in France in 1908, it embraced the aeroplane.

The club established its first flying ground on a stretch of marshland at Shellbeach near Leysdown on the Isle of Sheppey in early 1909.

[4] In October 1909, the club recognised the Blackpool Aviation Week, making it Britain's first official air show.

[5] On 4 November 1909, he decided to take up a piglet, which he named Icarus the Second, as a passenger, thereby disproving the adage that "pigs can't fly".

All its aviation-related activities were then transferred to the Aviation Council (United Service and Royal Aero Club) Ltd incorporated on 15 February 1973.

[2] Today the Royal Aero Club continues to be the national governing and coordinating body of air sport and recreational flying.

The Royal Aero Club also acts to support and protect the rights of recreational pilots in the context of national and international regulation.