It is now over a year since the Society had the pleasure of listening to Senor de la Cierva’s paper on the development of his new type of aircraft. In view of that paper it is unnecessary for me to enter into any detailed historical account, but I would like to recall to your minds just these few facts. The object which Senor de la Cierva had in view was to design some form of aircraft which would avoid loss of control on stalling and would at the same time facilitate the process of landing.

The subject of “Line-squalls” is one which has not been entirely neglected in the proceedings of this Society, but it has not hitherto been treated in any degree of detail. Sir Napier Shaw, in a lecture delivered on January 7th, 1914, on the subject of “Wind Gusts and the Structure of Aerial Disturbances,” briefly cited the line-squall as a phenomenon involving a violent commotion in the atmosphere, illustrating his remarks by sketches and meteorological records relating to a well-marked instance on October 14th, 1912, at Aberdeen.

Major Carter has dealt with this question in his paper. He has originated a method and invented an expression. With his “resonance factor” as weapon he has started a crusade against the enemy and sees prospects of converting him into a friend.

Mr. Williams remarked that the modern tendency in engineering is to endeavour to heat-treat the existing metals to enable them to withstand the stresses induced by modern design.

Many similar metals are used as in days gone by, but the modern steels are alloyed with other elements to enable them, with particular treatment, to give much higher strength results. For these alloy steels and also for the lighter alloys, special precautions have to be observed in their manufacture, whether they are destined for automobile or aeronautical work, although with aircraft work more precautions are necessary than in any other class of manufacture.