It is a very great honour indeed to find myself addressing the Royal Aeronautical Society. If, as I am often told, “a little learning is a dangerous thing” then you are in for a very dangerous address. For much as I would like to say that I know nothing about aviation it would not be altogether true. My knowledge is of the picked-up rather than the learned variety. During the war I was either at the receiving end of enemy aviation or under a friendly and comforting umbrella, which counts as passive experience. I started flying as a passenger in about 1935, and in common with many others 1 have put up with all the frustrations and delays of airline travel, particularly getting to and from the airfields—this I put down to semi–active experience! The active part of my experience began two short years ago when I started to learn to fly.

From this you will gather that any views I express this evening must be treated with caution if nothing else.