Serendipity Colonel Cody's Canal Encounter

The man who tested his aircraft on the canal     The Basingstoke Canal has been used for some unconventional activites, but never one so famous as that of Colonel Samuel Cody seen standing on the wing of his aeroplane afloat on Eelmoor Flash.     He made aviation history by becoming the first man in Britain to achieve powered flight, though this first machine crashed after its record breaking first flight and was never flown again.     On 16th October 1908, five years after the Wright Brothers first flew in America, Col. Cody made history by getting airborne on Farnborough Common (now the Royal Aerospace Establishment) to fly the plane he designed and built for a distance of 1,390ft. The flight took just 27 seconds.     Born in Davenport, Iowa, in 1867, Samuel Franklin Cody became an extra-ordinary character, long hair, goatey beard, Stetson hat, long flop coats in the later days, but in the early days he had his cowboy gear on, his leather jackets and trousers, great big cowboy boots. As a young man he was a cowboy, bronco buster, buffalo hunter and gold prospector.     He came to England at the age of 23 and set up a wild west show touring music halls with his 'wife' Lela and sons Vivian (10), Leon (about 12) and Edward (about 16), as part of a family act.

FARNBOROUGH Farnborough was chosen by the Army for flying experiments because of its location, its proximity to London, the fact that there was ground available, and it was close to Aldershot the home of the British Army. A balloon school was created which opened in 1906, and a balloon experimental works.

He produced "The Klondyke Nugget", based on the famous gold rush, which was a great hit and financed his interest in flight which started in 1899 or even before.     Cody first experimented by designing and building kites. From meteorological kites he moved to man-carrying multiple kite systems used for military observation. His kites were virtually aircraft except that they were propelled by rope and not an engine.     Noting his outstanding abilities, Percy B. Walker, former head of structure department at the Royal Aircraft Establishment wrote -"His skill at mechanical invention rose to a level of genius and his understanding of fundamental mechanical principles transcended that of many professional engineers".     Cody's theatrical work meant he and his family were constantly on the move. But by 1905 his knowledge of kite development earned him a salaried job as Kite Instructor at Aldershot. A year later the Balloon factory was set up at Farnborough and Cody was appointed Chief Kite Instructor and became Col. Cody if only because of his status and salary. That was the year in which he started seriously thinking about powered flight.     Following his historic first flight he set up as an independent aeroplane designer, constructor and pilot based on Laffan's Plain, alongside Geoffrey de Havilland.     Whereas de Havilland became a famous name in the world of aviation to come, Cody's career came to an abrupt and tragic end when he crashed on Ball Hill, to the north of Laffan's Plain, on 7th August 1913, aged 46.

He was going to take his son Leon up but a chap called WHB Evans who was the Hampshire Cricket Captain asked to be taken up and Cody said "I'll take him up first, he seems like a good sport, I'll give him the fright of his life".....     The flamboyant pioneer of British aviation who four years before had been fired by the Army was given a hero's send-off.     There were over 50 thousand people that lined the funeral procession from his house in Ash Vale to the military cemetary in Aldershot where he was buried. He had a full gun-carriage send-off and it was a wonderful sight.     [based on an article by: Dieter Jebens in BC News 145 May 1989, plus additional material] My thanks also to Jean Roberts ( www.sfcody.org.uk/ ) for kindly supplying some corrections.   BACK

Last updated August 2002