The father of British Aviation was an American. Samuel F. Cody. His real name was Cowdery, and he was born in Texas.
Cody devised and built Britain’s first practical aeroplane. On the great Farnborough Airfield near London is a cast reproduction of the gnarled old pine tree where in 1908, he tethered his flying machine (Army Aeroplane No. 1) and measured the thrust before taking to the air. Crowds watched in awe as he reached a height of 1,390 feet and covered a distance of over a quarter of a mile – an epic journey that made him the first man to fly an aeroplane over British soil.
Sam Cody was not related to Buffalo Bill Cody, but he could have been cloned as the great Wild West pioneer. Sam had an extraordinary look – long hair, goatee, waxed mustache, cowboy jacket and Stetson. He was a star of Wild West shows in England, billed as “Klondyke Nuggett,” a sharpshooting act.
Cody was fascinated with kites, and he dreamed of building one that could carry a man. With his showmanship and his interest in kites, the British Army gave him the job as chief kite instructor, then commissioned him to build a powered dirigible. It flew in 1907. Cody, who migrated from Texas to Britain, “flew” a kite-driven collapsible boat across the English Channel in 13 hours in 1903.
Cody’s first aeroplane was called “The Flying Cathedral,” and he is in the record books, citing endurance and size.
John Cody, great-grandson of Sam, said, “He was an amazing man. He had the ability to steer a plane as if he were riding a horse – it was a live thing, and he was part of it.”
Samuel Cody died in an airplane crash in 1913. Some 50,000 people attended the funeral. King George V sent a telegram: “I always appreciated his dogged determination and his dauntless courage.”
It is hard to believe that the Texas man who was the father of British aviation was the forerunner of the great Spitfires, Wellingtons, Hurricanes and all the rest in the Royal Flying Corps.
-Quotations from the Cody Archive, 1997