It is clearly unnecessary, before an audience with such experience of aeronautical matters, to explain why scientific, technical and technological research is a fundamental requisite for the growth of the aerospace industry, or why the growth of that industry is one of the factors vital to economic expansion. Nevertheless, I feel it would not be amiss to remind you of the great spur which the particularly advanced nature of the techniques involved in aeronautics provides for all the other industries (air and sea transport, communications, etc), which can often apply to problems closely affecting the general public, solutions which have been initially developed to meet the exacting requirements of aeronautical engineering.