The next step was to build a full size piloted version of the glider. In December 1907, Cody began to build his first biplane at Farnborough, and since Nulli Secundus was rebuilding (to emerge as Nulli Secundus II the following summer) he was allowed to use her 50 h.p. Antoinette engine to power the machine of bamboo and wire. He arranged it to drive two pusher propellers; the result looked something like the Wright biplane.

It was in this aircraft that Cody made his first hops in May, 1908, on Laffan’s Plain. On October 5 or 16th 1908 he made the first official flight in a piloted aeroplane in Great Britain a measured distance of 496 yards at a height of 50-60 ft over Laffan’s Plain (it lasted 37 seconds), Farnborough, and this was the first powered aeroplane flight in Britain; but Cody was American at the time, and did not take out naturalisation papers until 1909.

Cody 1 – Initial Prototype; fitted with Antoinette 50 hp. Later, with ailerons
Cody 2 – Revised Cody 1 airframe
Cody 3 – Cody 2 prototype fitted with ENV Type F engine of 60 horsepower.

The Cody II was a Michelin Cup machine in which he flew 4 3/4 hours on December 31, 1910 to win the trophy. Clear differences to the earlier machine were the one large propeller installed at the rear in place of the two forward propellers and a 60 hp Green engine fitted in place of the ENV.

The Michelin Cup machine in which he flew 4 3/4 hours on December 31, 1910 to win the trophy. Clear differences to the earlier machine were the one large propeller installed at the rear in place of the two forward propellers and a 60 hp Green engine fitted in place of the ENV.

Gallery

Engine: 1 x Antoinette, 50 hp
Length: 38.48ft (11.73m)
Wingspan: 52.00 ft (15.85m)
Height: 13 ft (3.96m)
Maximum Take-Off Weight: 2,950lbs (1,338kg)
Maximum Speed: 65mph (105kmh; 57kts)
Accommodation: 1

1910 Cody No. II
Span: 46′
Length: 38’6″

Mario Cobianchi was a Bolognese designer and draftsman, who had Sicilian-born engineer Franz Miller build his 1909 Brescia biplane, powered by a 100 hp Miller engine. It was originally intended to have both a helicopter-like propeller on the top wing and a pusher propeller in the rear.

Even after being modified several times, it never did get off the ground except for a few brief hops. After being strengthened and modified from its original state, it was entered in the Circuito Aereo Internazionale di Brescia, Brescia, Italy, September 8th – 20th 1909, but it still didn’t fly.

The 1911 tractor biplane designed and built by Henri Coanda carried 1 pilot and 3 passengers.

Span: 53’6″
Length: 41′
Gross weight: 2480 lb
Speed: 75-80 mph

With the support of the engineer Gustave Eiffel and the scholar Paul Painlevé, who helped him to obtain the necessary authorizations, Henri Marie Coandă made preliminary aerodynamic experiments and built, in the body shop of Joachim Caproni, the first jet-powered aircraft, actually a jet plane. This invention by Romanian inventor Henri Coanda amazingly appeared in 1910 as the world’s first jet-propelled aircraft. The “Coanda 1910”, as it came to be known, was showcased at the Paris Second International Aeronautical Exhibition and was a technological marvel for its time. Before its time, the Coanda design fell into relative obscurity.

The Coanda 1910 was of a traditional aircraft design of a sesquiplane layout, with front-mounted engine. The “jet” engine was mounted at the extreme front of the thin fuselage, made up mostly of wood covered over with fabric (along with struts and wiring) and possibly some metal added to the wings. The pilot was to sit behind the engine in an open-air cockpit with very little protection. The undercarriage was fixed just under the lower wing and featured two wheels and complimented with a landing skid. The tail section ended in a cruciform-type arrangement.

In terms of its “jet” powerplant, the Coanda 1910 featured a combination of piston engine and jet engine power – relying on internal combustion. The traditional combustion engine provided power to a compressor to generate compressed air. The compressed air was then mixed with fuel, ignited and forcibly extracted from special chambers mounted on either side of the fuselage. The resulting force of the expelled reaction was to provide forward momentum for the aircraft.

The Coanda 1910 achieved a single short flight in an accidental way. While ground testing the engine with Henri Coanda at the controls, the powerplant forced the plane airborne for a short time. As Henri himself was not a pilot by trade, he quickly lost control of the aircraft and crashed to the ground throwing him clear of the burning wreckage (though not without slight injuries). Despite the loss of the machine, Henri noted an effect occurring with the expelled gases and how they seemed to conform to the sides of his aircraft. This observation alone would lead Henri to research that would span decades more in what would eventually culminate in the “Coanda Effect”.

It is said that Gustave Eiffel told him: “Young man, you were born 30 years too early!” In the end, Henri Coanda’s 1910 invention was never furthered into practical use.

Engine: 1 x 4 cylinder in-line water-cooled, 50hp, driving a compressor for 450 lb of thrust.
Length: 41.01ft (12.5m)
Width: 33.79ft (10.30m)
Accommodation: 1
Maximum Take-Off Weight: 926lbs (420kg)