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Aviation History
1960
1960 - 0155.PDF
PLIGHT, 29 January 1960 the minutes had been read, remarked that though the Societywas at one time down to 4s 6d it now was £150 to the good. Among the names of "gentlemen elected members of theSociety" listed in January 1902 appear The Hon C. S. Rolls and Mr Alexander Ogilvie. The latter is still with us. The first paperof the session was "Aerial Navigation by Bodies Heavier than Air," by Sir Hiram S. Maxim, in which he described his famousBaldwyn's Park experiments. "It is difficult to learn the an of flying without actual practice in the air, and the actual manage-ment of a machine in the air, no matter how perfect, will require quite as much skill as is required to ride a bicycle. . . ." In October 1902 the Society welcomed back their president,Ma) Baden-Powell, and a deputation from council met him at At the close of the Victorian era one of the liveliest forces in the Society's affairs was Capt (later Maj) B. Baden-Powell, who was hon secretary from 1896 until 1900. During his service in the Boer War he was elected presi- dent. He was a younger brother of Sir Robert Baden-Powell, founder of the Boy Scout movement IVictoria Barracks, Windsor, with an illuminated address sayinghow glad they all were that he was back. The name ofJames Glaisher appears among the list of those present. TheSociety at last has its offices and library at 53 Victoria Streetand "after the Library has been duly catalogued and put into order at the new premises arrangements will be made for it to beopen to members on stated days for reference, due notice of which will be given." Those were the days! One notes that inthis last number of 1902 there is a paper on the performance of a ''Bristol" war balloon. Some names do stick around. At the opening meeting, the balance was announced as£204 5s l?d, a further example of the Society's passion for exact- ness. Baden-Powell read a paper on "The Future of Aerial Naviga-tion," concluding: "Then I feel sure it would not be long before the British nation would owe a debt of gratitude to the Aero-nautical Society of Great Britain." In the April 1903 number mention is made, in a list of members elected, of Griffith Brewer.The name is noteworthy in view of its owner's friendship with the Wright brothers, whose efforts were so soon to become partof the Society's history. April, too, contained the obituary of James Glaisher, who had died at the age of 94 on February 7.He had, indeed, been one of the Society's cornerstones or, better, one of the rocks on which it was founded. July 1903 saw theannouncement of election of S. F. Cody; and we all know how long it has taken to clear up his first flight. The same journalcarried a description of the International Kite Competition, a 155 contest to be won by height. The required altitude was in excessof 3,000ft, but as nobody managed this the silver medal was withheld. A Mr Charles Brogden did best with 1,816ft. An epoch-making announcement in the January 1904 numbertold members that the library was to be open for reference and borrowing on the first Monday in the month, from 2 p.m. to5 p.m. There was a paper on the use of the balloon in the British Antarctic Expedition by a Lt E. H. Shackleton, RN, but still nohint of what had been going on at Kitty Hawk the previous December. Then, in March, after a lecture by Thomas Moy onmechanical flight, the president announced: "We are now to have some photographs thrown on the screen descriptive of thegliding experiments of the brothers Wright. Most of you know about the brothers Wright . . . how they have been makingsome very good glides and how just lately they have applied a motor to their machine and made some very successful experi-ments in rising off the ground into the air." Then follows, in the Journal, "The Experiments of the Brothers Wright." It is intwo parts, Part I "With Gliding Machines depending upon Gravity for their Motive Power" and Part II "With the PowerFlyer—Communicated by Mr. Orville Wright." The7ouma/for October 1905 recorded the death of Stringfellow.At the meeting of December 15 in that year Mr Alexander read a letter from Orville Wright, giving an outline of the brothers'efforts to date. In his comments afterwards the president said: "To remain half an hour in the air seems extraordinary." In adiscussion on a paper on the work of the Wrights, given by Maxim, one notices the name Moore-Brabazon. This is in July1906. But the papers read to the Society were still mainly about balloons, kites and meteorological conditions; none of them seemsto convey any realization that powered, heavier-than-air flight had actually been accomplished. In a paper on the Santos-Dumontmachine, Bruce, the secretary, made a plea that the Society should not forget its background: "In what better way could we keepour jubilee than by showing the world that the work of 50 years has brought us near the goal?" January 1908 saw the publication of papers on "The StartingMethods of Aeroplanes" by Jose Weiss ("Imagine yourself possessed of a perfect aeroplane capable of taking you to yourintended destination, Manchester, for instance. In the present state of affairs what will you do for a landing when you get there?")and "A Study of Model Gliders" by one A. V. Roe. At the end of 1907 Bruce resigned the hon secretaryship andBaden-Powell the presidency. The Journal for July 1908 con- tained two interesting papers. One was by Octave Chanute, on"Recent Aeronautical Progress in the United States"; the other was "Notes on the Phillips Flying Machine." This refers toHoratio Phillips, to whom credit for the modern aerofoil is usually given. Wenham, too, was still supplying papers to the Journalat this date and at the age of 85. In the next number is an announcement of his death. In the January 1909 number is a list of those elected memberson November 9. A. P. Thurston is one name still with us, but right at the end are two others—"To be honorary members—Mr Wilbur Wright, Mr Orville Wright." Rules are laid out for the submission of papers and among those listed as serving onthe "travel exhibition" is the chairman, F. Handley Page Esq. Later there is a letter from Wilbur accepting on behalf of himselfand his brother the Gold Medal of the Society. Other features of this "bumper" number are a paper by Lanchester, "The Wrightand Voisin Types of Flying Machine"; Baden-Powell on "Experi- In this historic picture from the RAeS files Wilbur Wright (stand- ing) is seen at the May 3, 1909, meeting at which he and his brother were pressnted with the Society's Gold Medal. Orville's face is seen in Hofile near the centre of the wall panel. The patriarchal figure on the extreme right is Sir Hiram Maxim e experimental ground at Dagenham (1909 photograph at left) "was not one of the Society's outstanding successes"
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