“There was a considerable attendance of members,” says the Sixth Annual Report of the Society of the meeting held on 17th July 1871, with James Glaisher in the Chair.

The “considerable attendance” was not unexpected. The siege of Paris had drawn attention to the value of using the air for transport and mail in time of war. It was true that the besieged in Paris had to rely upon the way the wind blew and balloons, but enthusiasts of the Aeronautical Society were convinced that a heavier-than-air machine was not only possible, but would avoid all the drawbacks of the balloon being blown where the wind listeth. A large number of attempts had been made to make the balloon steerable, but with insignificant success.