Cody Flyer replica shapes up

In Farnborough Air Sciences Trust's “secret Badger Works” at the historic Hampshire airfield on May 13 the Cody Flyer Project's accurate but static replica of British Army Aeroplane No 1 — the first heavier-than-air aircraft to fly in the UK, on October 16, 1908 — was revealed to the press for the first time.

The previous weekend had seen the huge 58ft-span biplane wing cell — still sans ribs and uncovered — mated to the diminutive fuselage. The undercarriage and vertical tubular radiators were in place, and Aeroplane also inspected the dummy Antoinette engine (a concealed electric buggy motor will allow the twin counter-rotating propellers to spin), the wonderfully Jules Verne-style copper fuel tank and the newly-made aluminium propeller blades. A trial fitting of the fabric on the forward elevator was also undertaken during our visit. The replica will first go on public view, in a partly-covered state, at this year's Farnborough Airshow on July 14–20, in a special pavilion with the Roe biplane and a Wright Model B replica.

For more details, see: www.codyflyerproject.com

Aeroplane Monthly
May 30, 2008
photo: Michael Oakey