It is indeed a privilege to be asked to deliver this, the Second Lecture inaugurated by the Royal Aeronautical Society as “ The British Commonwealth and Empire Lecture.” I feel particularly gratified at being asked to follow in the wake of so distinguished a pioneer in Commonwealth Civil Aviation as Mr. Hudson Fysh, who delivered the Lecture last year. I am, however, at the same time distressed by the sequence, because after reading the outline of experience and achievement which was presented in such graphic form by Mr. Hudson Fysh, I realise acutely that I cannot offer you anything comparable. There can be from myself no first-hand account of pioneering or achievement, neither am I a competent spokesman for any of the organisations which have played so great a part in building up the British contribution to world aviation.