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Aviation History
1955
1955 - 0901.PDF
1 July 1955 11 "Never more than 500 bodies, including the cleaners." Wenumbered more than 7,000, so were obviously ripe for slaughter or at least for robbing. Our strength was not in mere numbers, but in the versatilitywhich only fairly large numbers can provide. Perring was a master-hand at picking teams to tackle special tasks. His ownV2 team was probably the climax of his achievement. But it was a method which everyone accepted and worked unselfishly. There is everything to be said for a small team of pickedmen if you want to get a job done really well and quickly— especially if you can do the picking. But it is a policy of per-fection—there are not enough of them. We tried to avoid wasting good men on work which didn't seem worth doing.Looking back, I don't think we did too badly. If Farnborough didn't exist, I don't suppose anyone wouldcreate a place just like it. But it has taken over 50 years of ups and downs for it to form into what it is, and that may wellbe a good way of growing. It has the advantage that it is a natural way, and produces a healthy plant—a happy ship, if youlike. That is how I think of it. From Vivian Cody, B.E.M. ON June 6th, 1906,1 was engaged by the War Office to instructRoyal Engineers at the Balloon Factory in the method of manufacturing man-lifting kites. While making kites I found Iwas playing a not unimportant part in the construction of Nulli Secundus No. 1. This airship made successful flights in 1907. At about this time my father obtained from the War Office,through the late Sir John Capper, permission to build a power- driven aeroplane, which was later known as Army Aeroplane No. 1. Ground tests were made with the aeroplane attached by rope,and a spring-balance to a tree, to ascertain what thrust the pro- pellers were giving. We little thought at that time, this treewould become famous and known as "The Cody Tree." It has been preserved and I hope it will stand in his memory for all time. On May 16th, 1908, we took the aeroplane to a clearing closeto the Balloon Factory to make the first attempt to fly. One of my duties at this time was to take photographs. My idea was to get a picture of the wheels leaving the ground.I took up my position 150 yd from the starting point, and when the aeroplane came in my direction, I felt more like running away,but I stood my ground and as the plane gained speed and came nearer and nearer I could see without a doubt that the wheelsof the undercarriage were gradually leaving the ground; and before it reached me they were two or three feet clear. You canimagine how thrilling these moments were for the pilot and myself. Before I could recover my breath my father had touched downand was turning to make a flight in the opposite direction, with equal success. This was repeated several times, but in making one of hisground turns a wing came in contact with a horse drinking trough which caused some damage to the wing; so flying had to stopfor that day. We were all very excited. We had taken part in the construc-tion of the aeroplane that had made history—the first heavier-than- air machine to leave British soil. After repairs had been carried out, and many similar flightshad been made, it was on October 5th, 1908, that another record flight was made-^96 yd at a height of 50 to 60 ft.Weather conditions were not really ideal and in making a turn to avoid some trees the aeroplane side-slipped and was badlydamaged one side. Luckily my father came out unhurt and his first words were: "I won't make that mistake again." We realized he was learning to fly.Although still working on aeroplanes I also had the pleasure of helping to make Britain's first successful airships.I retired from the Royal Aircraft Establishment after 44i years' service, during which time I saw many changes and met manyfamous people. From P. R. Gurr. TN July 1906 I was engaged by Colonel J. E. Capper, R.E. (later••• Major General Sir J. E. Capper, K.C.B., C.B.) as personal assistant to Lt. J. W. Dunne, Wiltshire Regt., who was attachedto the Balloon Factory under the War Office for the purpose of carrying out experiments with inherently stable gliders, leadingup to the building of the first Dunne tailless biplane. The early experiments were carried out in the old balloon shed,now known as D3, the building being under conditions of strict secrecy. Small paper scale-models were made and dropped fromthe girders of the shed, a careful record being kept of the length of glide and performance of each model. Later a model biplane with a 3ft wing span, of the designfinally adopted for the Dunne tailless machine, was constructed. In days long before S.B.A.C. Displays—Farnborough photographed from S. F. Cody's biplane. Reproduced from "Flight," December 7th, 1912. The framework was made of umbrella "U" tube and braced withstrong cotton thread. The wings were covered with Japanese silk and a small lead weight fitted in the centre of the framework.A hansom cab was hired (this being the only means of transport available in those days) and the model, carefully packed in a card-board box, was taken to Caesar's Camp, a hill situated approximately five miles from the factory. The cabby wasinstructed to wait about half a mile from the foot of the hill for secrecy reasons. Many successful glides up to 100ft, wereobtained with this model. As a result, J. W. Dunne decided to build a man-lifting glider (monoplane) and a full-scale taillessbiplane in the factory workshops. The machines were made in sections and final assembly took place in the balloon shed behindlocked doors. In July, 1907, J. W. Dunne, Lt. Westland, R.E., six selectedtradesmen of the Balloon and Kite Section and two civilian assistants entrained at Farnborough Station for Blair Atholl inPerthshire. The machines were packed in large wooden cases and strictly guarded throughout the journey north.On arrival at Blair Atholl station we were met by the Marquis • of Tullibardine (later Duke of Atholl) who took a very keeninterest in the experiments and afforded many facilities to enable us to carry out the work. Tents and camp equipment were pro-vided by the Scottish Horse and an N.C.O. escorted us to a site in the Atholl mountains where a large shed had been erected bythe crofters. Work on assembly of the man-lifting glider com- menced and was completed by the end of August. Capt. Gibbs of the Royal Field Artillery—an expert skier whowas selected to make the gliding trials—arrived a few days later. A number of short glides were made by Gibbs, but the machinewas eventually wrecked. At the end of September the camp was moved to a siteapproximately half a mile from Blair Castle. The biplane was assembled and fitted with two French 12 h.p. Buchet engines,and many attempts were made by Col. Capper and Capt. Gibbs to fly the machine; but owing to the inefficiency of the enginesand lack of power the best result that could be obtained, was a succession of short hops. The weather by this time had broken up and J. W. Dunnedecided to return to Farnborough with the object of building
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