Opening Address

I always feel that it is one of the more remarkable of the many anomalies and quirks of the modern age in which we find ourselves living, whether we like it or not, I hope that we do, that one of the most severe demands on any vehicular running or bearing surface comes from the requirements of a means of transport which is designed tofly and to run along the ground only incidentally on its way up and down again. But the fact is, of course, that major types of transport aircraft are now not only the heaviest vehicles for which pavements have to be provided, but they are also the vehicles which operate at the highest ground speeds.