Vintage Wings - Demoiselle 1908

*** Vintage Wings ***

Cody No. 2 "Michelin Cup" - 1910

After carrying out more than a year of test flights in his British Army Aeroplane No 1, in which he made the first powered heavier- than-air flight in Great Britain on 16 October 1908, Samuel Franklin Cody built his second plane in 1910. This aircraft, named No. 2 or simply "Cody Michelin Cup Biplane", resembled his first machine, but had improved controls and used ailerons instead of the wing-warping technique.
A 60 h.p. Green engine was chosen to power the aircraft, mounted in the centre-section of the lower wing set and connected to the two-bladed propeller by a chain-drive. The big radiator was mounted between the front central struts, behind the two seats in tandem.
In its original form the machine was designed without a fixed tail-plane, but after initial trials a small horizontal surface was added mid-way up the rudder. Most important, following the reconstruction after a crash, the Green engine was changed to a V8 E.N.V. unit.
Cody was going to make an attempt on the prize offered by Baron de Forest for the longest flight into Europe from Britain, but finally did not compete. However, Cody decided to enter the contest for the British Empire Michelin Cup to set up the longest distance over a closed-circuit before the ending of 1910.
His first effort resulted in a flight of 94.5 miles in 2 hrs. 24 mins. and set up a distance and duration records, but was soon beaten by T. Sopwith, and Cody tried again during the last week of September, but the machine was forced to ground due to strong wind gust.
Cody's last attempt on the Michelin Prize won it for him and was made on 31 December, 1910, the last day of the contest. For his victory he flew for 4 hrs. 47 mins. over a distance of 185.46 miles, at the same time setting up new British records for duration and distance over a closed circuit.

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