It is right that they and their teams should not be forgotten, an aim shared by both the Hawker Association and the Kingston Aviation Heritage Trust. They and we believed in what we were undertaking in 1960 with the revolutionary new jump-jet; we had to! It seemed an elegant technical solution, and so it was to prove.

Initially though, all was not plain sailing. The first prototype XP831 had arrived from Kingston in the summer of 1960 and after exhaustive checks was readied on 21st October for our first attempted vertical lift-off. The result was a triumph for the engine manufacturers - we certainly saw plenty of light under the wheels - but the aircraft itself danced about in a drunken fashion and we were indeed thankful for the restraining cables which tethered the precious prototype to terra firma.

A month passed with much concentration on analysis, modification and re-testing until to-day, 50 years ago, 19th November, when we felt confident enough to finally try without the tethering cables.

The first free controlled hover at Hawker's Dunsfold aerodrome was a momentous turning point and opened the way to developing the highly successful operational aircraft that the Hawker/BAe Harrier became. It was witnessed by a small group of Hawker engineers, technicians and ground crew, some of whom are with us today.

Now, in celebrating 50 years of flying by a total of 824 such aircraft, let us remember those who are not with us. You will I'm sure each have your own particular colleagues in mind - let us now raise a glass to them!