RECENT AERONAUTICAL PKO(}RESS. AND DEDUCTIONS 

 TO BE DRAWN THEREFROM, RE(J ARDlNd THE FUTURE 

 OF AERLVL NAVKIATION. " 



r>v Mil]. 1). F. S. P)Ai)EN-lVnvKix. 



It Is with fcolinys of tlio ^'reiitcst stitisfaction that I aiii now al)lo 

 for the tirst time to address tlio society in the cai)aeitv of its [)resi- 

 dent, and I must sei/e this opportunity of expressinu- to you my 

 heartfelt thanks foi- th(^ very y-reat honor whieli you have conferred 

 upon mc hy (dectiiiL^ me to this position. I can not but feel that my 

 laljors in the past, thoui;-h \'ari(Ml and dip})ing into almost every branch 

 of aeronautics, have not l)een so extensive or so prominent as to war- 

 rant my selection for this important post, l)ut n(>vertlieless 1 .sincerely 

 hope that, with freer opportunities. I may, in the inmiediate future, 

 be able to accomplish nuich moi'e in the work we ha\'e before us. 



My absence from Enoland during- the last three years, on active 

 service in South Africa, has ])revente(l my fulfilling many iniportant 

 duties for tlu^ society during a |)eriod of unusual activity and impor- 

 tance, but, on the other hand, the time I have spent on the "'trackless 

 veldt," and in the monotony of camp life, has not, 1 hoj)e, l)een 

 wasted, as ample opportunity has been atforded for careful meditation 

 and consideration of the whole subject which it is the object of this 

 society to study. I therefore propose not so imich to gi\'e a technical 

 lecture on the various experiments of ](>cent y(>ars — you have had 

 better opportunities than I of studying these — as to endea\()i' to make 

 clear our present position. 



During these three years many great events have taken ])lac(^ in the 

 aeronautical world. Count Zepi)elin's monster air ship, built on sound 

 sci(Mititic principles, of enormous size and ([uite ditl'er(M>t in design to 

 anything made before, has been completed, and has made successful 

 ascents, although, J nuich ri^gret to have to add, has not succeeded 

 in traveling through the air at a sufBcient speed to warrant its l)eing 

 considered a practical success. 



^'Presidential address l)efore the Aeronautical Society of (Jreat Britain, lyoiidon, 

 December 4, 1902. Reprinted l)y perniis,sion of the autlior and tlii' Society fioni tiic 

 Aeronautical Journal, No. 25, Vol. VIJ, January, lOO;!. 



121 



