Cody aircraft mark V RAE-O78 during World War I

Aviation in Britain Before the First World War

A good view of Cody aircraft mark V outside the shed on Laffan's Plain. The shed door is open revealing a women stood at front, a wing hung on the side of the shed, some work benches and two posters one a cartoon of Cody from the magazine Vanity Fair, the other appears to be some form of advert for the "Cody Flyer". A women is stood at the entrance to the shed. Note the horse shoe above the entrance to the shed. Cody was a superstitious person, for instance he would never fly on a Sunday or start projects on a Friday, he avoided the use of the number thirteen, had a black cat as a mascot and most importantly of all avoided anything green on his aircraft, either being worn by a passenger or on the aircraft itself. Rumours suggest that this superstition may have been well founded, supposedly after one crash he found that the newly installed seat had a green label and according to some accounts his passenger in the fatal accident was wearing green socks. Interestingly the horseshoe only appears on the shed after the destruction of his original entrants for the Military Trials.

With the help of his family and friends Cody built the mark V mainly from the remains of the mark III in just four weeks, after both the aircraft that he intended to enter in the trials were written off. It was powered by the 120 hp Austro-Daimler engine which was relatively unscathed from the crashes it had been in. Note the triangular rudders similar to those on the monoplane.

It was with this machine that Cody won both the International Division and the British Division (�GBP5000 prize in total) of the 1912 military trials, a competition to find an aircraft for the army. 32 machines were entered from 21 companies in a series of tests. These tests covered areas such as rate of climb, speed (both fast and slow), glide angle, landing distance, time of assembly and ability to fly in a high wind. The aircraft had to meet certain other criteria such as having dual control and room for an observer, having an endurance of at least three hours, having good visibility, being able to land in a ploughed field along with various other performance stipulations. Out of these nineteen competed and eleven aircraft completed enough of the tests to be considered for prizes with four completing all the tests.

Cody's victory was however more of a reflection on his skills as a pilot and showman. Unlike his monoplane the design was rather dated and could not in the long term be used by the military. Just the competition aircraft (later involved in a fatal crash) and one other (on display in the "Flight Gallery" at the Science Museum, London) were bought by the military .

With a 100hp Green engine fitted to this aircraft (entrants had to be all British) and increased fuel capacity Cody also won the Michelin Trophy No. 2 (2nd series) and it's �GBP600 prize for making the fastest tour of a 186 mile circuit - in fact due to fog Cody flew 220 miles but to his surprise still won.

austro daimler 6 british empire michelin cup cody aircraft mark v laffans plain royal aircraft establishment collection at the imperial war museum uk government artistic works great britain early aviation aviation wwi first world war propeller aircraft aircraft

1912

Imperial War Museums

https://www.iwm.org.uk/

Public Domain