British Aircraft before the Great War, Wydawnictwa anglo i rosyjskojęzyczne
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BRITISH AIRCRAFT
BEFORE THE GREAT
WAR
Michael H. Goodall
and
Albert E. Tagg
Schiffer Military History
Atglen, PA
Contents
Foreword,
by Sir Peter Masefield
6
Introduction
7
One
Aircraft Manufacturers
9
Two
Airships
359
Models
379
Unidentified British Aircraft
381
Bibliography
382
Index
384
Foreword
by Sir Peter Masefield
A
ll devotees of the galaxy of historic aircraft which
were designed, assembled and flown at Brooklands,
Hendon, Eastchurch, Larkhill and numerous smaller
sites during the years which led up to the First World War, will
join me in welcoming this fine and meticulously researched
book by Michael Goodall and the late Bert Tagg.
For the first time the leading particulars of most of these
aircraft types have been gathered together, more than 900 of
them well illustrated and presented in one volume. It consti
tutes a most valuable contribution to the detailed information
about a remarkable period in aviation history and is a memo
rial to the bravery and inventiveness of the intrepid pioneers of
that faroff era.
Importantly, among them are details of the first thirty Avro
aircraft from the original Roe No.l biplane which made the
first and now authenticated, though very brief take off under
its own (Antoinette) power on the Finishing Straight of the
Brooklands Motor Course in June of 1908.
With them are the thirty-three Sopwith aircraft flown be
tween July 1912 and the end of 1914. Between them the Avro
and Sopwith aircraft, together with those of Shorts and Bristol,
make up a significant proportion of all the British aircraft which
took the air before the First World War. They were joined also
at Brooklands by the nine adventurous Martin-Handasyde
monoplanes and two Howard Wright monoplanes and one bi
plane on which Tom Sopwith made his first flight without the
benefit of any dual instruction. In fact, on the Howard Wright
biplane, Sopwith made a gallant attempt upon the British Em
pire Michelin Trophy by flying one hundred and fifty miles
into Europe on the last day of 1910 before taking it on a suc
cessful tour of the United States.
Michael Goodall and the late, lamented Bert Tagg, both
with such long and close associations with Brooklands, are to
be congratulated on the production of such a valuable addition
to the early history of British aircraft. The Wright Brothers had
been an inspiration to the British pioneers and it is perhaps
appropriate that this excellent volume has been published in
the United States. A memorable photograph shows Wilbur and
Orville, together with several of the earliest British pioneers
outside Mussel Manor, Leysdown, Isle of Sheppey, Kent the
clubhouse of the Royal Aero Club. The building still survives
and is now a tavern.
It is, in addition to the details of the aircraft, a valuable
reminder not only of the beginnings of British aircraft con
struction but also the fact that Brooklands grew from its small
origins, on the World's first banked Motor Course, to become
during two World Wars, the chief center of the British aircraft
industry. In all for some eighty years Brooklands remained not
only a significant reminder of early work but also, with both
the Hawker and Vickers companies, a leader into the jet era.
Today, Brooklands lives on as "The Brooklands Museum
Trust" where later generations can relish reminders of "The
Great Days That Were" with an assembly of some of the most
illustrious aircraft as well as motor cars of the historic past,
starting in June of 1908.
I most warmly commend this book to all students of aero
nautical history.
Introduction
I
t is hard to believe that less than a lifetime separates the
early pioneers, with their flimsy creations of bamboo, pi
ano wire and cotton bedsheeting, from today's airborne
marvels machined from duralumin, stainless steel, titanium and
carbon fiber. The first primitive machines struggled to get off
the ground with just one person aboard - today's mighty air
liners carry 500 passengers with ease at speeds that would have
been unimaginable to the pioneers. But without those pioneers,
with their boundless courage, enthusiasm and inventive genius,
today's progress would not have been possible. Not all the pio
neers were successful however and there were many deadends,
but gradually the accumulated store of knowledge led to quick
ening progress up to the beginning of World War I.
It must not be forgotten that, after these novel machines
were completed, some brave (or should one say foolish) fel
low had to be found to coax it into the air. At first the pioneer
aircraft constructors were often their own pilots, self taught,
often alone in the pearly light of early dawn, shivering on the
edge of some usually unsuitable grassland, waiting for an un
reliable engine to drag them into the air.
Gradually flying training became more organized with the
opening of flying schools at Brooklands, Hendon and Larkhill
and other, smaller centers. Up to the outbreak of War on 4 Au
gust 1914, a total of 881 British subjects civil and military quali
fied for British Aviation Certificates from the Royal Aero Club
of the United Kingdom. The first went to J.T.C. Moore-
Brabazon (later Lord Brabazon of Tara) when, on 8 March 1910,
he flew briefly a Short biplane at Shellbeach, Leysdown. The
final pre-War Certificate (No.863) was awarded to Sergeant
A.F. May, RFC.
Out of these 881 Certificates, 492 (56%) were gained by
members of the British fighting forces (RFC and RNAS). The
other 389 were awarded to civilian pilots from 11 June 1910.
Out of the total, forty-eight British pilots (5 1/2%) were killed
in accidents between the above date (the first, the Honorable
C.F. (Charlie) Rolls, at Bournemouth in a Short biplane, through
structural failure) and the last, before civil flying was aban
doned at the start of the First World War when Lieutenant L.C.
Hordern, flying a Henry Farman of No.5 Squadron RFC was
killed at Gosport through an inadvertent (and familiar) stall
and spin, following an engine failure.
This book would not have been possible without the help
of my two old friends, now both sadly departed. H.F "Fitz"
Cowley started acquiring photographs of early British aircraft
in the late 1920s, when many of the pioneer airmen were still
alive and when it was possible to find photographs and bro
chures of early aircraft in bookshops and antique shops and
even from the pioneers themselves. Consequently he was able
to amass one of the finest photograph collections in the coun
try. I was fortunate to inherit his collection and add it to my
own.
The other major contributor and my co-author was A.E.
"Bert" Tagg. Bert joined Hawkers at Kingston in the late 1930s
and spent all of his working life with them and their successor
companies. He was a skilled aircraft engineer and was able to
add the flesh to the bare bones of my raw research material.
Tragically he died before knowing that the book would be ac
cepted by our publisher, the first to have been approached.
Andrea and John Garner, Bert's daughter and son-in-law, have
most kindly given me great assistance in editing the text and
making it in an acceptable format for our publishers
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BRITISH AIRCRAFT
BEFORE THE GREAT
WAR
Michael H. Goodall
and
Albert E. Tagg
Schiffer Military History
Atglen, PA
Contents
Foreword,
by Sir Peter Masefield
6
Introduction
7
One
Aircraft Manufacturers
9
Two
Airships
359
Models
379
Unidentified British Aircraft
381
Bibliography
382
Index
384
Foreword
by Sir Peter Masefield
A
ll devotees of the galaxy of historic aircraft which
were designed, assembled and flown at Brooklands,
Hendon, Eastchurch, Larkhill and numerous smaller
sites during the years which led up to the First World War, will
join me in welcoming this fine and meticulously researched
book by Michael Goodall and the late Bert Tagg.
For the first time the leading particulars of most of these
aircraft types have been gathered together, more than 900 of
them well illustrated and presented in one volume. It consti
tutes a most valuable contribution to the detailed information
about a remarkable period in aviation history and is a memo
rial to the bravery and inventiveness of the intrepid pioneers of
that faroff era.
Importantly, among them are details of the first thirty Avro
aircraft from the original Roe No.l biplane which made the
first and now authenticated, though very brief take off under
its own (Antoinette) power on the Finishing Straight of the
Brooklands Motor Course in June of 1908.
With them are the thirty-three Sopwith aircraft flown be
tween July 1912 and the end of 1914. Between them the Avro
and Sopwith aircraft, together with those of Shorts and Bristol,
make up a significant proportion of all the British aircraft which
took the air before the First World War. They were joined also
at Brooklands by the nine adventurous Martin-Handasyde
monoplanes and two Howard Wright monoplanes and one bi
plane on which Tom Sopwith made his first flight without the
benefit of any dual instruction. In fact, on the Howard Wright
biplane, Sopwith made a gallant attempt upon the British Em
pire Michelin Trophy by flying one hundred and fifty miles
into Europe on the last day of 1910 before taking it on a suc
cessful tour of the United States.
Michael Goodall and the late, lamented Bert Tagg, both
with such long and close associations with Brooklands, are to
be congratulated on the production of such a valuable addition
to the early history of British aircraft. The Wright Brothers had
been an inspiration to the British pioneers and it is perhaps
appropriate that this excellent volume has been published in
the United States. A memorable photograph shows Wilbur and
Orville, together with several of the earliest British pioneers
outside Mussel Manor, Leysdown, Isle of Sheppey, Kent the
clubhouse of the Royal Aero Club. The building still survives
and is now a tavern.
It is, in addition to the details of the aircraft, a valuable
reminder not only of the beginnings of British aircraft con
struction but also the fact that Brooklands grew from its small
origins, on the World's first banked Motor Course, to become
during two World Wars, the chief center of the British aircraft
industry. In all for some eighty years Brooklands remained not
only a significant reminder of early work but also, with both
the Hawker and Vickers companies, a leader into the jet era.
Today, Brooklands lives on as "The Brooklands Museum
Trust" where later generations can relish reminders of "The
Great Days That Were" with an assembly of some of the most
illustrious aircraft as well as motor cars of the historic past,
starting in June of 1908.
I most warmly commend this book to all students of aero
nautical history.
Introduction
I
t is hard to believe that less than a lifetime separates the
early pioneers, with their flimsy creations of bamboo, pi
ano wire and cotton bedsheeting, from today's airborne
marvels machined from duralumin, stainless steel, titanium and
carbon fiber. The first primitive machines struggled to get off
the ground with just one person aboard - today's mighty air
liners carry 500 passengers with ease at speeds that would have
been unimaginable to the pioneers. But without those pioneers,
with their boundless courage, enthusiasm and inventive genius,
today's progress would not have been possible. Not all the pio
neers were successful however and there were many deadends,
but gradually the accumulated store of knowledge led to quick
ening progress up to the beginning of World War I.
It must not be forgotten that, after these novel machines
were completed, some brave (or should one say foolish) fel
low had to be found to coax it into the air. At first the pioneer
aircraft constructors were often their own pilots, self taught,
often alone in the pearly light of early dawn, shivering on the
edge of some usually unsuitable grassland, waiting for an un
reliable engine to drag them into the air.
Gradually flying training became more organized with the
opening of flying schools at Brooklands, Hendon and Larkhill
and other, smaller centers. Up to the outbreak of War on 4 Au
gust 1914, a total of 881 British subjects civil and military quali
fied for British Aviation Certificates from the Royal Aero Club
of the United Kingdom. The first went to J.T.C. Moore-
Brabazon (later Lord Brabazon of Tara) when, on 8 March 1910,
he flew briefly a Short biplane at Shellbeach, Leysdown. The
final pre-War Certificate (No.863) was awarded to Sergeant
A.F. May, RFC.
Out of these 881 Certificates, 492 (56%) were gained by
members of the British fighting forces (RFC and RNAS). The
other 389 were awarded to civilian pilots from 11 June 1910.
Out of the total, forty-eight British pilots (5 1/2%) were killed
in accidents between the above date (the first, the Honorable
C.F. (Charlie) Rolls, at Bournemouth in a Short biplane, through
structural failure) and the last, before civil flying was aban
doned at the start of the First World War when Lieutenant L.C.
Hordern, flying a Henry Farman of No.5 Squadron RFC was
killed at Gosport through an inadvertent (and familiar) stall
and spin, following an engine failure.
This book would not have been possible without the help
of my two old friends, now both sadly departed. H.F "Fitz"
Cowley started acquiring photographs of early British aircraft
in the late 1920s, when many of the pioneer airmen were still
alive and when it was possible to find photographs and bro
chures of early aircraft in bookshops and antique shops and
even from the pioneers themselves. Consequently he was able
to amass one of the finest photograph collections in the coun
try. I was fortunate to inherit his collection and add it to my
own.
The other major contributor and my co-author was A.E.
"Bert" Tagg. Bert joined Hawkers at Kingston in the late 1930s
and spent all of his working life with them and their successor
companies. He was a skilled aircraft engineer and was able to
add the flesh to the bare bones of my raw research material.
Tragically he died before knowing that the book would be ac
cepted by our publisher, the first to have been approached.
Andrea and John Garner, Bert's daughter and son-in-law, have
most kindly given me great assistance in editing the text and
making it in an acceptable format for our publishers
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]