Cody began work on the type soon after and the aircraft began testing into September of 1908. As with the Wright Brothers progress in the Flyer series, the primitive Aeroplane No 1 needed to progress in stages before stability could be achieved. As such, the primary design changed over the months the project was given life, milestones achieved through small and large changes applied. These early tests amounted to nothing more than the aircraft "hopping" its way to the next development tier before true sustained flight could be reached. Cody's work, however, hit a snag when the War Office dropped its interest in the aeroplane concept in 1909 - intending to have private inventors take the mantle and further the British cause. Cody continued his work, undeterred, and used his own funds while still being granted access to Farnborough (since Army interest was dropped, the aircraft became known as the "Cody 1" from this point on). His tests eventually netted a flight of 1 mile on May 14th, 1909. Individual passengers were then taken on in August of that year. Several more public flights then followed to prove the validity of manned, powered flight in Europe sound.
The Cody 1 certainly mimicked the primitive scope of the Wright Flyer with its many cables and unconventional wing surfaces. The aircraft utilized a standard biplane wing arrangement though the elevator was mounted to a forward position. The pilot sat in an open are section with various controls at his disposal. The undercarriage amounted to a series of multi-spoked wheels supporting the various sections of the aircraft. A rudder was fitted to the rear in the usual way. The Cody 1 was dimensionally larger than the Wright Flyer, featuring a length of 38 feet, 6 inches, a wingspan of 52 feet, 4 inches and a height of 13 feet. The type was powered by a single French-originated Antoinette gasoline-fueled, 8-cylinder, water-cooled engine of 50 horsepower output, allowing the Cody 1 to reach a maximum speed of 65 miles per hour in ideal conditions. The mount was still susceptible to environmental factors and several test flights were cancelled or rearranged to accommodate for this.
On September 8th, 1909, Cody managed a flight of 40 miles covering over one hour's flight time and was forced to land when his fuel supply ran dry. On October 28th of that year, Cody officially became a British citizen. One of the last notable Cody 1 flights was in an attempt to claim a 1,000 Sterling Pound prize with a flight destined from Manchester to Liverpool. Cody's flight was hampered by heavy fog and never materialized. With the Cody 1 already set for the aviation history books, Samuel Cody now turned his attention to the experimental one-off Cody Michelin Cup Biplane of 1910.
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