Cody V biplane The Cody V was a single - engined biplane built by the British - based American aviation pioneer Samuel Franklin Cody in 1912 . It was built from the remains of two of Cody ' s earlier aircraft , and won the 1912 British Military Aeroplane Competition , with two aircraft being purchased for the Royal Flying Corps . It was abandoned after the mid air disintegration of one of the aircraft in April 1913 . Development and design . 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 . He intended to enter two aircraft into the Military Trials , which were planned to start on 1 August 1912 , a monoplane powered by a 120 - hp ( 89 kW ) Austro - Daimler engine which had been salvaged from an Etrich Taube which had crashed during the 1911 " Daily Mail " Circuit of Britain Air Race , and a biplane powered by a 60 - hp Green engine , with which Cody had finished fourth in the 1911 Circuit of Britain . However , the aircraft was wrecked hitting a tree when landing on 3 July , and on 8 July Cody crashed the monoplane , badly damaging it and killing a cow . Still keen to enter the competition , Cody used the remains of the two damaged aircraft to build a new biplane , later to be known as the Cody V , using the powerful Austro - Daimler engine . This was a pusher canard biplane , with seats for the pilot and three other people in an open cockpit . Lateral control was by wing warping and two vertical tails were carried on bamboo booms behind the engine . Operational history . Cody took the new aircraft for its maiden flight on 23 July 1912 , flying it to Salisbury on 27 July to take place in the trials . While Cody ' s biplane was , even in 1912 , outdated , it was declared the winner : Cody was awarded the £4 , 000 first prize and a further £1 , 000 for the best British built aircraft . ( Although the vastly superior BE . 2 took part in the trials , as a product of the Royal Aircraft Factory , it was ineligible for the prizes . ) The War Office purchased the prototype Cody V , together with a second aircraft to be built to the same design . In October , Cody re - engined the biplane with a British - built 100 - hp ( 75 kW ) Green engine in order to enter the British Empire Michelin Cup competitions , winning the £600 prize for the fastest time over a 186 - mile ( 299 km circuit . After re - fitting with the Austro - Daimler engine it was delivered to the Royal Flying Corps on 30 November 1912 , being issued to No . 4 Squadron in December that year . The second Cody V flew in January 1913 , and was delivered in February . On 28 April 1913 , the first prototype broke up in mid - air and the aircraft crashed , killing the pilot . The resulting investigation discovered that the aircraft ' s structure , which incorporated many parts from the 1911 Circuit of Britain aircraft , had deteriorated badly and was in " precarious " condition by the time of the crash . The second aircraft , which was awaiting repair of damage that had been received in an accident in March , was never flown again , and in November that year it was given to the Science Museum , London , where it is displayed today .