To anyone involved in aeronautics, Formula I cars must seem to be pretty weird devices and so, in order to explain some of the rather unorthodox aspects of FI aerodynamic design, I shall start by retracing the history of aerodynamics in FI a few years to 1968, when it was realised that greater gains could be made by increasing the tyre loads than by trying to reduce the drag. It was the tyre manufacturers who influenced this development more than anyone else, as the width of tyre being developed to generate cornering loads greater than 10 g was making any attempts to reduce drag pretty fruitless. On the average circuit only about one-fifth of the time is spent at around maximum speed and four-fifth is spent cornering, braking and accelerating, when adhesion is far more important than drag.

For the engineer, the “Concorde challenge” could be defined as follows:

A passenger carrying aircraft twice as fast as the existing aircraft and at least as safe.

When the jets came out 20 years ago, there was a sudden increase of the speeds used up to then, but their envelope stopped at the limit where the difficulties associated with very high speeds start

It is an honour which I greatly appreciate to be invited to give the 19th Barnwell Memorial Lecture and I value the invitation all the more after noting that all previous lecturers have been distinguished aeronautical engineers, or at the least specialists, very experienced in air transportation.

It has always been a matter of regret to me that I never knew Frank Barnwell at work. When I went to Filton in October 1938 it was a few weeks after the flying accident in which he lost his life, so I cannot add from personal experience to the comprehensive account of his career compiled by Major Bulman for the first Barnwell Lecture in 1954, supplemented by the reminiscences of Captain Cyril Uwins and others.