The Sixteenth Louis Bleriot Lecture, “The Aeronautical Industry in the Europe of Tomorrow,” was given in London in the Society's Lecture Theatre by Captain R. M. Bloch, F.N., F.R.Ae.S., A.F.A.I.A.A. Mr. B. S. Shenstone, M.A.Sc, F.R.Ae.S., F.A.I.A.A., F.C.A.S.I., President of the Society, was in the chair.

Introducing the Lecturer, the President reminded the audience that the Bleriot Lectures were given alternately in Paris and London. This year was London's turn and their lecturer was a Frenchman, Captain Rene Bloch. Captain Bloch had many duties: he was Assistant Director of Aeronautics for International Affairs in the French Ministry of Defence, he was the French Representative of the NATO Maritime Patrol Aircraft Steering Committee and Permanent Chairman of the Technical Sub-Committee. He was also French Co-Chairman of the Anglo-French Naval Aviation Committee. Captain Bloch had a number of degrees, including the diploma of the Ecole Polytechnique and he was an M.A. of Harvard. He was a Chevalier de la Legion d'Honneur, a Combatant Volontaire de la Resistance and he held the Medaille de la France Libre and the Medialle de l'Aeronautique. He was a member of A.F.I.T.A.E., an Associate Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, a member of the Institute of Radio Engineers, New York and he had recently been elected a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society. They would appreciate that Captain Bloch's background and experience was certainly wide enough for him to speak with authority on his subject—“The Aeronautical Industry in the Europe of Tomorrow.”