In the first Cierva Memorial Lecture, Professor Bennett dealt with the life and work of Juan de la Cierva. He was priviledged to know Cierva personally and to work with him. He described in vivid detail the qualities of Cierva as a man and the many aspects of his work which contributed to the successful evolution of rotating-wing aircraft. The lecture was aptly titled “The Era of the Autogiro.” At the time of Cierva's death in 1936, the autogyro had been well established and the helicopter, which was to supersede the autogyro, was only beginning to show promise as a satisfactory flight vehicle. By the time I first became directly associated with rotating-wing aircraft, some eight years later, Cierva had already become one of the legendary figures of aeronautics.