Cody Centenary Project
The Project
The Friends of the Aldershot Military Museum were pleased to be able to participate in the celebrations for the centenary of the first flight of the great aviation pioneer Samuel Franklin Cody in 2008.
The life of Samuel Cody was an amazing adventure, beginning with his origins in America, his time as an entrepreneur with his Wild West shows and his self-penned successful melodramatic plays, through to his interest in man-lifting kites, airships and gliders, and on to his pioneering days as designer, builder and pilot of the first British plane to take to the air in this country.
Cody enjoyed further successes in aviation, being a multiple winner of Michelin Trophies and succeeding against all comers in the first British Military Trials of aircraft, before being tragically killed in an air crash on Laffan's Plain in 1913.
The Friends exhibition celebrated Cody's first flight, his life and many other achievements and they were delighted to have the support of leading experts on the great man. John and Peter Cody, great-grandsons of Samuel Cody, gave the Friends their backing and generously loaned some fascinating items from their personal collection. Jean Roberts, who has spent a lifetime conducting ground-breaking research into Cody's life also gave her full support, and local author Peter Reese, whose biography of Cody "The Flying Cowboy" was published to great acclaim last year, was closely involved in the planning of the exhibition.
Other items were loaned from Mr Bob Robinson, late of the Royal Aircraft Establishment in Farnborough, other members of the public generously agreed to loan items from their personal collections for the duration of the display and the Farnborough Air Sciences Trust (FAST) also gave their assistance and co-operation. The Friends are grateful to all who gave their support.
|
|