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Aviation History
1956
1956 - 0069.PDF
6920 J, 1956 "Flight" photographs Top photographs (left to right): Mr. N. E. Rowe delivering his presidential address; Sir Roy Fedden proposing the vote of thanks; and Capt. Laurence Pritchard seconding. Centre: (left) Dr. A. M. Ballantyne, R.Ae.S. secretary, with Mr. and Mrs. L. A. Wingfield at the reception; (right) Lord and Lady Sempill being received by Mr. and Mrs. Rowe. Bottom: (left) Mr. and Mrs. W. E. W. Petter; (centre) Sir Sydney and Lady Camm with Mr. and Mrs. George Edwards; (right) Mr. and Mrs. George Dowty talking with Lord Sempill. Mr. Dowty made the first contribution to the new Centenary Fund by writing a cheque for £100 immediately the fund had been announced. R.Ae.S. CELEBRATES 90th ANNIVERSARY THE 90th anniversary of the founding of the Royal Aeronautical•*• Society was celebrated on Thursday, January 12th, at the Royal Institution, London, where the photographs on this pagewere taken. Following the presidential address by Mr. N. E. Rowe (reported on pages 71-73), an anniversary reception was held atwhich Mr. and Mrs. Rowe welcomed members and their guests. The chairman of the presidential-address meeting was LordSempill, chairman of the Society in 1926-27 and president from 1927 to 1930, who referred to the present serious shortage ofscientific and technical manpower. The Government had not done enough in this respect, he said, and there was a greatopportunity for the Society here. A vote of thanks to the president was proposed and seconded by Sir Roy Fedden (president 1944-45)and Captain Laurence Pritchard (secretary 1925-51) respectively. In forthright terms, Capt. Pritchard criticized the Society'sCouncil and members for their lack of enthusiasm. He agreed with Mr. Rowe that a presidential address was good for the presi-dent as well as for the Society; he (the speaker) had served under 17 presidents, "a lot of whom needed a lot of good doing forthem." Public opinion of the Society should be high, but was not: relevant criticism had been made by Sir Roy Fedden at therecent Production Conference and by the speaker in his 1953 Pierson memorial lecture at Weybridge."As a member of 37 years' standing," Captain Pritchard continued, "I do not think members are doing their job." Attend-ance that evening was very poor, and "you have got a damn bad Council because of the damn bad membership." An adventurousleadership was required; members must wake up and realize the importance of aeronautics; and the Society should strive toachieve a truly independent position. It was not sufficient to "think of a member, and double it"—a mere increase in member-ship numbers was of little use.
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