News See news archive for previous entries. See also Blog page where you can find out obout our recent excursions.

On Monday 13th November 2023 Member Mike Sheehan stepped up to replace the scheduled talk. Mike talked about 100 years of land speed records, starting with the very first set in Paris. In 1898, Chasseloup-Laubat hit a speed of 39.24 mph in the electric powered Jeantaud Duc. The early records were set under different standards with world records not always being recognised by everyone. As the Association Internationale des Automobile Clubs Reconnus (later to become FIA) began to be recognised as the authority on the records, their standard began to become used. Their regulations required two passes to be made in opposite directions. This meant that they could rule out any wind assistance. The maximum wheel driven speeds reached just over 400 mph in the 1960's when jet propulsion took over from internal combustion engines. The current record was set in 1997 by Andy Green driving ThrustSSC. The twin Rolls-Royce Spey powered car went supersonic reaching an average of 760 mph over the two passes. Mike Sheehan was involved in the structural design of the car.

Our Club

The Club was founded in 1986 as the Retired Chartered Engineers' Club to provide a social meeting place for retired and semi retired professional engineers and a means of keeping in touch with achievements and developments in engineering. The Club has links with other organisations including the University of Exeter. We meet at the Exeter Golf and Country Club on the second Monday of each month, and occasionally organise site visits and social events.

Membership is open to Retired or Semi-retired Engineers and related professionals resident in the South West and currently includes more than 50 representatives from the Aeronautical, Chemical, Civil, Electrical and Electronic, Communications, Gas, Marine, Mechanical, Petroleum, Structural and other disciplines. Prospective members are welcomed as guests at Club events. For further membership information email the club secretary at honsec@rcec.co.uk

You can also download a membership application form here:   

Members assemble from 10.00am for an informal tea or coffee and the meeting starts promptly at 10.30am when short reports concerning Club business are presented by the committee. This is followed by a talk of approximately 40 - 60 minutes on a subject of engineering interest usually given by invited speakers or sometimes by members. Topics have been as diverse as nuclear fusion reactors and Roman aqueducts.

Social events take place throughout the year and technical visits are arranged for the summer months.

The Heritage Trail section researches the achievements of engineers with local connections and where appropriate arranges for the erection of plaques in their memory. The link is at heritage

There are Clubs similar to ours in other areas of the UK and a list of those known to us may be reached via the Links page in the main menu. The LINKS page also has links to pages such as a photo gallery within this web site.