British Army Aeroplane No 1

British Army Aeroplane No 1
Replica of Cody's Aeroplane No 1 as first flown, at the FAST Museum
Role	Experimental biplane
Manufacturer	Balloon Factory
Designer	Samuel Franklin Cody
First flight	16 October 1908
Number built	1

The British Army Aeroplane No 1 or sometimes Cody 1 was a biplane built by Samuel Franklin Cody in 1907 at the Army Balloon Factory at Farnborough. It made the first recognised powered and sustained flight in the United Kingdom on 16 October 1908.

In the early years of the twentieth century, the British Army's limited interest in aeronautical matters was largely confined to the use of tethered balloons or kites for artillery observation purposes. Many people did not believe the Wright Brothers' claims of sustained controlled flight, and in 1907 officially sanctioned experiment at the Balloon Factory, Farnborough, was limited to the building of the Dirigible No. 1 Nulli Secundus, which was the Army's first powered airship, under the supervision of Colonel J.E. Capper, the superintendent of the factory. In addition some highly secret experiments with gliders were being carried out at Blair Atholl in Scotland by J.W. Dunne in collaboration with Capper. In late 1907 the Director of Fortifications, Capper's immediate superior, was persuaded to allow the use of some of the Balloon Factory's resources for the construction of a powered aircraft, to be designed and built by the American Samuel Franklin Cody, who was at that time working with Capper on the Nulli Secundus.

The Army Aeroplane No. 1 was a biplane of similar configuration to that designed by the Wright brothers, being a three bay biplane with horizontal control surfaces mounted in front of the wings and a rudder behind; but was larger, with a wingspan of 52 ft (16 m).

The aircraft had a long history of alterations, but as first built it had a short square-section wire-braced wood fuselage, with the engine mounted on top in front of the leading edge of the lower wing, with the pilot’s seat behind it. A pair of V struts at the front carried two wheels on an axle, and a tailwheel was mounted at the back. This was augmented by small wheels mounted on the leading edge on the lower wingtips. The wings had wooden spars at the leading and trailing edges and had an arrangement for altering the camber when on the ground by means of tensioned wires between the spars. The wings were connected by streamlined interplane struts, some wind-tunnel experiments on strut sections having been carried out at Farnborough. Lateral control was to be achieved using a pair of small ailerons mounted above the leading edge of the lower wing. The forward-mounted elevator was mounted on three sets of bamboo booms attached to sockets on the leading edge of the wings, the lower members sloping steeply upwards so that the surfaces were just below the level of the upper wing. These could be operated in conjunction to act as elevators as well as assisting in the lateral control of the aircraft. A single rectangular rudder was mounted between two booms, the upper attached to the centre of the rear spar and the lower to the rear of the fuselage. A large canvas triangle was stretched between the trailing edge of the upper wing and the end of the upper tail boom. A small fixed vertical surface was also mounted above the upper wing.

...
Wikipedia