page_title: Cody monoplane
section_title: Design and development
hierarchical_section_title: Cody monoplane / Design and development
caption_attribution_description: English: Aviation in Britain Before the First World War A good view of Cody aircraft mark IV, Monoplane on the ground with a small group of civilians. Cody built this aircraft specifically for the 1912 military trials. This single engine tractor design, radically different from his previous ones was significantly quicker and more manoeuvrable than the aircraft he had built before, though this was partly because of the more powerful Austro-Daimler engine which had been transferred from the mark IIE aircraft. Note the unusual tail arrangement with twin elevators and rudders. The Cockpit was semi enclosed with two side by side seats. Also note the aircraft's large size compared to other contemporary monoplanes. Approximately four weeks before the trials (sources disagree on the exact date) Cody struck a cow whilst attempting to make a forced landing after an engine cut out. Cody was thrown clear, largely unhurt, but the cow was killed and the aircraft, apart from the engine and rudder, was written off leaving him with no aircraft four weeks before the trials.
context_page_description: The Cody IV monoplane was a single-engined monoplane designed and built by the American-born but British-based aviation pioneer Samuel Franklin Cody in 1912. It was intended for entry into the 1912 British Military Aeroplane Competition, but was wrecked in a crash before the start of the competition.
context_section_description: In December 1911 the British War Office announced a competition for a Military aeroplane capable of carrying a pilot and observer for the recently established Royal Flying Corps. First prize was £4,000, with the War Office having the option to purchase any of the prize winning machines.
  The American showman and aviation pioneer Samuel Cody, who had developed a system of man-carrying kites from 1901, built his first aircraft, the British Army Aeroplane No 1 at the Army Balloon Factory at Farnborough in 1908, making its first flight, recognised as the first powered controlled flight in the United Kingdom on 16 October 1908.  In order to compete for the prize money offered by the War Office, Cody decided to design and build a new monoplane, while also entering his existing biplane that had finished fourth in the 1911 Daily Mail Circuit of Britain Air Race.
  Cody's previous designs were pusher canard biplanes, but the new aircraft was a tractor high-winged monoplane powered by a single 120 hp (89 kW) Austro-Daimler engine which had been fitted to an Etrich Taube which had crashed during the 1911 Circuit of Britain, which Cody had purchased after the race. It had a deep fuselage that accommodated the crew of two side-by-side. The tail arrangement was unusual, with two elevators  and two rudders carried on four bamboo booms that led back from the fuselage, the all moving tail surfaces forming a box shape. Fabric was stretched between the tail booms giving a cruciform shape as seen in cross-section. Lateral control was by means of wing warping, and the aircraft was fitted with a nosewheel undercarriage.
caption: Rear view of the Cody IV, showing the tail surfaces
exif: {}