"Aviation in Britain Before the First World War" A medium close up of Geoffrey de Havilland sat in the cockpit of his aircraft number 2. De Havilland like Cody designed and built his own aircraft (with the help of a friend, F T Hearle) he was later employed by the Royal Aircraft Factory and went on to design the BE and SE types that were widely used during the First World War. He then went on to create the de Havilland firm which created such aircraft as the Tiger Moth, the Mosquito and the Comet.