One of the early aero engine pioneers, Air Cdre Rod Banks takes us thorough his early career working for Peter Hooker Ltd who held the British licences for Gnome and Le Rhone, the developments in fuel during these years and the part he played in concocting special fuel cocktails for the Schneider Trophy contests and the development of British and European military aero engines before and during the Second World War.

The lecture was delivered to the Royal Aeronautical Society's Historical Group Lecture on 6th November 1967. The podcast was edited by Mike Stanberry FRAeS and it was digitised thanks to a grant from the Royal Aeronautical Society Foundation.