Aviation in Britain Before the First World War RAE-O540

Aviation in Britain Before the First World War

British Army Aircraft I fitted with propellers but without an engine, with a group of sailors plus a civilian worker posing in front. Cody began building the British Army Aircraft I in 1907 with the design similar to the kites and glider that he had successfully flown. It had twin propellers, chain driven by a single 50 hp Antoinette engine, the propellers were situated behind the leading edge of and between the upper and lower wings. When he had finished building the aircraft Cody carried out an extensive period of tests to the aircraft often involving hops off the ground. Throughout this period of testing there was intense public and press interest with Cody often being ridiculed for his apparent lack of progress in comparison with foreign pilots and designers particularly the Wright brothers who were touring Europe at that time.

Cody made the first sustained flight (lasting 27 seconds and for a distance of around 1390 feet) on the 16th October 1908. Though he had made previous short flights or leaps this was the first one to exceed quarter of a mile, the distance which the Royal Aero Club deemed in 1958 to be the minimum for a "powered leap" to be termed a "sustained flight". The flight ended in a crash caused by him trying to turn the aircraft too quickly at too low a height. Cody was largely unhurt in the crash apart some cuts to his forehead.