The School of Ballooning was a training and test centre for British Army experiments with balloons and airships. It was established at Chatham in Kent in 1888. The School moved to Stanhope Lines, Aldershot in 1890 when a balloon section and depot were formed as permanent units of the Royal Engineers establishment. The School was sometimes known as the Balloon Factory.
In 1862 two Royal Engineers officers, who had seen balloons being used in the American Civil War, drew the attention of the War Office to the potential use of balloons for observation. These officers demonstrated balloons to the army, but it was only in 1878 that the War Office directed Captain James Templer, an army reservist and experienced balloonist, to set up a small unit of Royal Engineers which became known as the School of Ballooning. [1]
Initially the School was based at the Royal Arsenal, Woolwich. In 1878 the school constructed and flew a hydrogen-filled balloon of 10,000 cubic feet (280 m3) capacity. By 1879 the unit had five balloons. In 1880 military balloon training and demonstration took place at Aldershot. After a tragic incident in 1881 Templer concentrated on development of balloons rather than making ascents himself. [2]
In 1882 the School moved to the School of Military Engineering at Chatham where they discovered that Goldbeater's skin was superior balloon fabric than the material they had used previously – in particular it was easier to stow for transport. Templer also took out a patent for the use of unmanned balloons for "balloon photography" of the ground below. [3] [4]
In 1890 the School moved to Aldershot where a section of the Royal Engineers had been formed to use balloons operationally. The School of Ballooning was renamed the Balloon Factory in 1897. In 1899 the Factory increased production to supply balloons for use in the Boer War. The Factory began experiments with "dirigible balloons" (airships) in 1902. [5]
The Aldershot site was found to be too enclosed so in 1904-1906 the Factory moved to a site at the edge of Farnborough Common. A 72 feet (22 m) high airship shed was built at there. [6] Samuel Cody experimented with man-lifting kites at the site. [7] In 1906 he was appointed as Chief Instructor in Kiting.
In 1906 Colonel John Capper took up command of the School of Ballooning. During his time in command, Capper contributed to the development of Britain's military airships and, with Cody, piloted the first successful British airship flight, that of the Nulli Secundus over London during 1907. [8]
In 1909–1911, part of the Factory was separated to form the Air Battalion of the Royal Engineers. In 1912 the Balloon Factory was renamed the Royal Aircraft Factory. [9]
The following officers served as superintendent of the Balloon Factory:
In 1909, the Balloon Factory was separated from the Balloon School. Colonel Capper continued as commander of the Balloon School, and the civilian consultant engineer Mervyn O'Gorman was appointed superintendent of the Balloon Factory. Several months later Major Sir Alexander Bannerman took over the Balloon School from Colonel Capper. [12]
Farnborough is a town in northeast Hampshire, England, part of the borough of Rushmoor and the Farnborough/Aldershot Built-up Area. Farnborough was founded in Saxon times and is mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086. The name is formed from Ferneberga which means "fern hill". According to the UK-wide 2011 Census, the population of Farnborough is 57,486.
The Royal Aircraft Establishment (RAE) was a British research establishment, known by several different names during its history, that eventually came under the aegis of the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD), before finally losing its identity in mergers with other institutions.
Samuel Franklin Cowdery was a Wild West showman and early pioneer of manned flight.
The Air Battalion Royal Engineers (ABRE) was the first flying unit of the British Armed Forces to make use of heavier-than-air craft. Founded in 1911, the battalion in 1912 became part of the Royal Flying Corps, which in turn evolved into the Royal Air Force.
This is a list of aviation-related events from 1907:
This is a list of aviation-related events during the 19th century :
Aldershot observatory is a circular red-brick building with a domed roof standing on Queens Avenue in Aldershot Military Town near Aldershot, England, home to the British Army since circa 1854. Inside is an 8-inch (203 mm) refracting telescope on a German-type equatorial mount with a clockwork drive which will run for about 2 hours without rewinding, this has a facility to vary the drive rate. The telescope and observatory building were a gift from aviation pioneer Patrick Young Alexander to the British Army, a fact which is recorded by a plaque near the observatory door. It reads: ‘Presented to the Aldershot Army Corps by Patrick Y Alexander Esq 1906’.
Patrick Young Alexander was a British aeronautical pioneer fascinated by the possibility of heavier-than-air flight. He was an enthusiastic balloonist and he was also particularly active in meteorology. He performed many meteorological and aviation experiments, designing and building his own equipment. He travelled widely, visiting Australia in his youth and later making many visits to USA – crossing the Atlantic at least 50 times – he travelled widely in Europe and visited Mexico, Russia, Siberia and Africa in pursuit of his interests.
Balloons and kites were the first inventions used in aerial warfare and their primary role was observation. Balloons provided an unreliable and stable means of elevating an observer high over the battlefield to obtain a birds-eye view of troop positions and movements. An early instrument of aerial intelligence collection, they were also useful for creating accurate battlefield maps, an important ingredient for battlefield success. Incendiary balloons also have a long history. The incendiary balloons carry hot air or something that can catch fire to destroy enemy territory. They could also hold small bombs for combat. The history of military ballooning dates back to the late 18th century, when the Montgolfier brothers, Joseph-Michel and Jacques-Étienne, first demonstrated the potential of hot-air balloons for military use. The first recorded military use of balloons was during the French Revolutionary Wars, when the French military used balloons to gather intelligence on the movements of the enemy. Balloons were also used during the American Civil War, where they were used for reconnaissance and communication. Balloons had a decline after several incidents in the interwar period.
Air Commodore Edward Maitland Maitland, was an early military aviator who served in the Air Battalion of the Royal Engineers, the Royal Flying Corps, the Royal Naval Air Service and the Royal Air Force. He was a noted pioneer of lighter-than-air aviation.
The British Army Aeroplane No 1 or sometimes Cody 1 was a biplane built by Samuel Franklin Cody in 1907 at the Army Balloon Factory at Farnborough. It made the first recognised powered and sustained flight in the United Kingdom on 16 October 1908.
British Army Dirigible No 1, christened Nulli Secundus was a semi-rigid airship. First flown on 10 September 1907, it was Britain's first powered military aircraft.
Major-General Sir John Edward Capper was a senior officer of the British Army during the late nineteenth and early twentieth century who served on the North-West Frontier of British India, in South Africa and during the First World War, where he was instrumental in the development of the tank. He was the older brother of Major-General Thompson Capper, who was killed in action at the Battle of Loos in late 1915.
The following timeline of British military aviation covers the military aviation activities of the British Armed Forces from its origins in the 19th century to the present day:
Colonel James Lethbridge Brooke Templer was an early British military pioneer of balloons. He was an officer in the King's Royal Rifle Corps and Royal Engineers. Templer set out a scientific foundation for British military ballooning. In particular, he worked out routines for balloon handling, how to use hydrogen in cylinders and methods for training observers.
Hugh Oswald Short, AFRAeS was an English aeronautical engineer.
Mervyn Joseph Pius O'Gorman was a British electrical and aircraft engineer. After working as an electrical engineer, he was appointed Superintendent of what became the Royal Aircraft Factory at Farnborough in Hampshire in 1909. In 1916, following a scandal over the quality of the aircraft used by the Royal Flying Corps, he was removed from this post but continued to act in an advisory capacity. After the war he concentrated his energies on motoring issues, particularly road safety and traffic management, and played an important part in the publication of the Highway Code. He died in 1958 in Chelsea, London.
The Beta 1 was a non-rigid airship constructed for experimental purposes in the United Kingdom by the Army Balloon Factory in 1910. Reconstructed as Beta II, it was used successfully by the British Army and then by the Royal Naval Air Service as HMA No.17, and was finally struck off charge in 1916.
Chalais-Meudon is an aeronautical research and development centre in Meudon, to the south-west of Paris. It was originally founded in 1793 in the nearby Château de Meudon and has played an important role in the development of French aviation.