royle to Fleet, distances of 6-3/4 and 8 miles
respectively, without the use of ailerons or elevators. The progress
made is illustrated by the fact that at the Army Man[oe]uvres of 1913
twelve machines covered 4,545 miles on reconnaissance and 3,210 miles on
other flights, accurate observations being made from a height of 6,000
feet, without serious mishap.

In 1913 I recommended the gradual substitution of B.E.'s for Farmans on
the ground of the all-round efficiency and superior fighting qualities
of the former, and to secure the advantage of standardization, but it
was objected by the War Office that the Farmans were the only machines
that could mount weapons in front--an objection which was not met until
firing through the airscrew was introduced--and that the slower Farmans
offered greater advantages for observation, an idea which was long
prevalent. As a result, a compromise was effected, and two squadrons
were equipped with B.E.'s and two with homogeneous flights of Farmans,
Bleriots and Avros.

At the outbreak of war the most successful machines possessed by the
Military Wing were the B.E.2 tractor with a 70 horse-power Renault
engine, a speed of 73 miles an hour, and a climb of 3,000 feet in nine
minutes; and a Henri Farman pusher with a speed of 60 miles an hour, and
a climb of 3,000 feet in fourteen minutes. A special study was being
made in 1914 of the best methods of ensuring clear observation of the
ground, and partly in this connection staggered planes were introduced,
culminating in the B.E.2c's, which were not, however, available for
service in any numbers until 1915.

To sum up, the technical development of aircraft has taken place, and
will continue side by side with the evolution of the uses to which
aircraft can be put. While due attention was paid to problems connected
with the anticipated duties of aircraft ancillary to that of
reconnaissance, owing to the short space of time between the formation
of the Royal Flying Corps and the outbreak of war, to the difficulties
connected with the engine, and to causes inseparable from peace
conditions, development had been more or less confined to evolving a
stable and reliable machine with a good field of view.

CONCLUSIONS.

The foregoing outline of the development of aviation from the earliest
times up to the war--a story of human endeavour and achievement in the
air with its attendant dangers and difficulties--is not without value in
endeavouring