Although the roots of the British Aircraft Industry date back to the end of the last century—to 1898, when the brothers Horace, Eustace and Oswald Short began to manufacture balloons in makeshift premises beneath the railway arches at Battersea—it was not until the First World War that the Industry was securely founded. Thus the Royal Aeronautical Society, which this month celebrates its centenary, has existed for twice as long as the Industry.