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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 04 July 2016
To be asked to give the Lanchester Lecture, on the topic of helicopters, is a great honour and just now a wonderful chance. We all know of Lanchester's basic contributions to our knowledge of the way in which lift is generated by the creation of a vortex system. For fixed wings the flow patterns are now known and the theories are in the third stage of refinement. But on helicopters, although it has been the topic of intensive research for fifteen years or more, the subject is much farther back. The results obtained are fascinating technically and pictorially and I would cheerfully discuss them for hours. But our understanding is far from complete and I have regretfully decided to throw away a wonderful chance and leave the topic to a less formal occasion.