This was a joint meeting of the Royal Aeronautical Society and the Institution of Automobile Engineers, and was held in the Lecture Hall of the Royal Society of Arts, John Street, Adelphi, W.C.2, on Thursday, November 8th, 1928.

The President : He extended a hearty welcome to all present and particularly to the new President of the Institution of Automobile Engineers (Mr. L. H. Hounsfield), whom he hoped would attend many future meetings of the Society as well as the joint meetings which had been arranged. The joint meetings had been very successful indeed in the past and he hoped that, in addition to those which had already been arranged for the present session, there would be many others in future sessions.

The above meeting of the Royal Aeronautical Society was held in the rooms of the Royal Society of Arts, John Street, Adelphi, W.C.2., on Thursday, November 29th, 1928.

The President : 'The technical aspects of the production of aircraft were of considerable importance because, from whatever point of view one regarded aircraft, economical and rapid production were essential. Mr. Sigrist is a Director of the Hawker Engineering Co. He was associated with Mr. Sopwith as far back as 1910 and had been intimately connected with the affairs of the Sopwith Company—particularly the technical affairs relating to design and construction. He had been responsible for the design of one of the first British machines to win the Schneider Trophy. His wide experience would enable him lo speak with special authority on the technical aspects of the production of aircraft. The Society was particularly glad to welcome Mr. Sigrist as a lecturer for the first time before them.

It is now more than ten years since, in conjunction with my brother, I gave a lecture to your Society in London on “Steel Tubes, Tube Manipulation and Tubular Structures for Aircraft.” Since that time great progress has been made both in the production and manipulation of steel tubing. Things which were thought ten years ago to be impossible are now being done and it is, therefore, desirable that the paper should be brought up-to-date.

During the last few years there has been a vast improvement in the manufacture and the manipulation of stainless steel tubes for both commercial and aircraft purposes.