In my last lecture I promised to try and show how the pilot can foresee and effectively eliminate practically all the danger which attends the art of flying. You will probably notice that most of the danger arises, at least indirectly, from some misbehaviour of the engine; so that in estimating the danger I shall be compelled to lay considerable emphasis on the possibility of engine failure, in spite of the fact that it is comparatively remote. If we look back to the infancy of any mechanical means of locomotion, we realise how unreliable it was in the initial stages; we may therefore look forward with absolute confidence to the future reliability of the aero engine and its installation.

Every day almost marks an improvement, and if the early pioneers who lost their lives could trace its development what surprise they would express ! At the same time the possibility of one unreasonable engine failure is a menace to the whole of flying, which cannot and must not be blinked at.