OVERVIEW

The beginnings of aviation, manned and unmanned, in England are somewhat shrouded in legend and hyperbole, largely because they are inextricably tied to an inveterate American showman, Colonel Samuel Franklin Cody. To start with, Cody was the self-adopted name of one Franklin Cowdery, born in Davenport, Iowa, in 1867. Cody never served in the military, much less achieved the rank of colonel. A cowboy in a touring wild west show who performed shooting and horse riding stunts, Cowdrey renamed himself on his 1889 marriage certificate to create an association in his audiences' mind with "Buffalo Bill" Cody (1846 1917), a famous figure from the Wild West shows of the late 1800s. His less-than-successful imitation led to his working on a horse ranch. When the ranch's owner sold some horses to an Englishman, Cody was assigned to accompany them and ensure their safe delivery.

Arriving in England in 1901, he attempted to restart his Wild West career, but by that time such shows were pass . Cody then turned to another of his interests, kite building, patenting a two-cell box kite with a set of wings added to the top of each box. England was involved in the Boer War in South Africa at the time, and Cody attempted to interest the Ministry of Defense in his kites for lifting military observers into the air. Always the showman, Cody exhibited his kites at the Alexandra Palace in 1903 and used a kite to tow himself in a canoe across the English Channel...