That this distinguished gathering has convened here to-day, amid the chaos of a war-torn world, for a lecture on civil aeronautics is indeed a singular expression of the true spirit of our profession. It is, I think, graphic proof of the fact that all of us in aviation are looking forward to the day when the aeroplane can lay aside its duties of destruction and once more assume its truly great role as a constructive force in world civilisation.

I am, therefore, particularly sensible of the privilege of delivering, at this historic meeting, the Twenty-ninth Wilbur Wright Memorial Lecture. Under any circumstances, we in America feel that an invitation to address you, the parent body of the aeronautical profession, is one of the highest honours which can be attained by an individual engaged in aviation.

My role here, of course, is hardly that of an individual. In the narrowest justifiable sense, I can but speak for what has been accomplished by the 7,000 men and women who are the Pan American Airways System.