I have accepted with pleasure the Chairman’s request to introduce our lecturer this afternoon It is twelve years ago since MR SQUIRE proved himself to be a worthy successor to the late MR H GLAUERT at the Royal Aircraft Establishment in analysing the basic aerodynamic problems of the helicopter The work of GLAUERT had been confined to vertical flight and to horizontal flight with the rotor axis vertical (like that of the Gyrodyne) MR SQUIRE extended the analysis to the flight of a helicopter in which the propulsive force for horizontal flight was obtained by a forward inclination of the rotor axis The classic report by MR SQUIRE on this subject was studied closely by the Sikorsky organisation and was put into practical effect a few years later in the well-known Sikorsky designs

MR SQUIRE is recognised as the leading aerodynamicist on helicopters in this country and is Chairman of the Helicopter Committee of the Aeronautical Research Council We are all looking forward to hearing from him this afternoon on certain aerodynamic problems of the helicopter which have remained a mystery to most of us until now