Law, Science and Aeronautics are defined in broad terms and some landmarks are outlined in the history of control of aeronautics by legal means.

The exercise of national sovereignty often means that relevant laws are a serious limiting operational parameter. This and other factors may hinder the development of international air transport (especially supersonic aircraft) and may thus threaten the livelihood of aeronautical scientists.

When aviation accidents occur, the operation of rules which determine “legal liability” may thrust an unfair financial burden on sections of the community which may be blameless from a scientific point of view. Suggestions for the future are made.

Scientific exploration into outer space provides a crucial opportunity for the nations of the world to co-ordinate the disciplines of science, law and politics in a way never before possible. Members of the Royal Aeronautical Society cannot afford to ignore this challenge and a practical suggestion is made as a first step in implementation.

Detailed measurements in the wake flow behind blunt based two-dimensional and three-dimensional bodies have been made at M = 2. The results throw some light on the behaviour of separated flows and indicate the importance of flow reversal. The results for the two-dimensional body are in agreement with the Crocco and Lees’ theory on separated shear flows. A preliminary study of the effect of air injection at the base shows that the base pressures increase significantly.

The invitation for this lecture requested “a review of missile structures from the viewpoint of an aircraft designer.” This is inevitable because most of the author’s experience has been associated with aircraft design. There are however many people actively concerned with missiles who have had considerable experience designing aircraft and would be better qualified to make a more realistic approach to the subject. The difficulty for an outsider making a review of missiles is justifying the “need to know” and then, having found out, or deduced interesting facts, he may be made aware that to publish them would contravene some security ruling.

An All-Day Discussion on the Training of Guided Missiles Engineers was held by the Astronautics and Guided Flight Section of the Society in the Lecture Theatre on 16th March 1961. The Chair was taken by Mr. A. D. Baxter, M.Eng., F.R.Ae.S., M.I.Mech.E., F.Inst.P., Executive Director (Engineering), de Havilland Engine Co. Ltd.

Introductory papers were given by L. H. Bedford, C.B.E., M.A., B.Sc, A.F.R.AcS., Director of Engineering, Guided Weapons Division, English Electric Aviation Ltd.; Ian Dean, M.A., Education Officer, de Havilland Aircraft Co. Ltd.; F. G. Tarrant, Assistant Director, Guided Weapons (Engineering), Ministry of Aviation; Professor G. A. Whitfield, B.Sc, F.R.Ae.S., Professor and Head of Department of Aircraft Electrical Engineering, College of Aeronautics; Commander E. G. lege, Greenwich; Professor C. Holt Smith, C.B.E., M.Sc., M.I.E.E., Head of Department of Electrical and Instrument Technology, Royal Military College of Science, Shrivenham; and Wing Cdr. G. C. Wainwright, B.Sc, A.F.R.Ae.S., A.F.I.A.S., Chief Instructor, Weapon Systems Engineering Wing, R.A.F. Technical College, Henlow. The Discussion was opened by M. Armstrong, Chief Training Engineer, Bristol Aircraft Ltd.; Professor E. J. Richards, O.B.E., M.A., D.Sc, F.R.Ae.S., Professor of Aeronautical Engineering, University of Southampton; Colonel J. P. G. Lewis, War Office (Directorate of Equipment Production), and Colonel W. J. Mellors, M.B.E., School of Electronic Engineering, R.E.M.E. Twenty-three other speakers took part in the General Discussion.

“There was a considerable attendance of members,” says the Sixth Annual Report of the Society of the meeting held on 17th July 1871, with James Glaisher in the Chair.

The “considerable attendance” was not unexpected. The siege of Paris had drawn attention to the value of using the air for transport and mail in time of war. It was true that the besieged in Paris had to rely upon the way the wind blew and balloons, but enthusiasts of the Aeronautical Society were convinced that a heavier-than-air machine was not only possible, but would avoid all the drawbacks of the balloon being blown where the wind listeth. A large number of attempts had been made to make the balloon steerable, but with insignificant success.

The theoretical study of heat transfer in ducts and passages which are not circular is difficult. In addition to geometrical and hydrodynamic problems, thermal aspects such as non-uniformity of heat transfer at the section boundary, increase the number of variables to be taken into account. The popular and perhaps simplest technique for the prediction of heat transfer in forced turbulent convection in non-circular ducts, is to use the more easily determined equation for an equivalent circular section. The form of the equation, which is used to correlate experimental data for the simpler case of heat transfer in the circular section, may be derived from considerations of similarity or alternatively by dimensional analysis. (Reference may be made to the classical work of W. Nusselt at the early part of the present century for the derivation of such an equation.) The equivalent circular pipe is equivalent in two respects. It is a pipe which has the same pressure drop and same heat transfer as the non-circular duct under consideration for the same conditions. The diameter of the equivalent pipe which replaces the non-circular section will be discussed later.

The General Elastic Analysis of the bending of a bi-metallic strip subjected to uniform heating has been made by Timoshenko. In this note we extend the theory to that of a tri-metal strip. General formulae for curvature and bending stresses have been developed. These formulae reduce to simple expressions if a particular choice of material constants and thicknesses is made. These latter formulae indicate that the curvature can be independent of the coefficient of linear expansion of the middle material and that it is possible to have the stresses at the inter-surfaces equal if a proper choice of the ratios of the coefficients of linear expansion of the three materials is made.