# Cody Floatplane

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Cody Floatplane Cody Hydroplane on the Basingstoke Canal General information Type Floatplane National origin United Kingdom Manufacturer Samuel Franklin Cody Designer Samuel Franklin Cody Status Prototype only Number built 1 History First flight 14 July 1913

The **Cody Floatplane** (also referred to as the **Cody Hydro-biplane**) was designed and built by [Samuel Franklin Cody](/source/Samuel_Franklin_Cody) as an entrant in the 1913 [Daily Mail Circuit of Britain race](/source/Daily_Mail_Circuit_of_Britain_Air_Race), which offered a prize of £5,000. On 7 August 1913 the aircraft suffered a structural failure during flight trials and both Cody and his passenger were killed.

## Design and development

The Cody Floatplane was a three-bay [biplane](/source/Biplane) of orthodox design for an aircraft of its time, with a single [elevator](/source/Elevator_(aircraft)) operated by a bamboo push-rod mounted on booms in front of the wing and a single [rudder](/source/Rudder) and small horizontal stabiliser on booms behind it. Lateral control was effected by [wing-warping](/source/Wing-warping). Power was provided by a 100 hp (75 kW) Green engine mounted on the wing centre section driving a 10.75 ft (3.28 m) diameter Garuda propeller via a chain. Pilot and passenger were seated in [tandem](/source/Tandem) in front of the wing, using Cody's preferred metal seats, of the type used on agricultural machinery. The arrangement of the controls was unconventional by present-day standards: all the control surfaces were operated by a control column and wheel, and the throttle and engine ignition were controlled using foot pedals. It was fitted with one large central float with three steps and a pair of smaller stabilising floats positioned below the inboard interplane struts.

The machine was completed in July 1913, and made its maiden flight as a landplane on 14 July 1913.[1] It was fitted with its floats and carried out flotation tests on the [Basingstoke Canal](/source/Basingstoke_Canal) at [Mytchett](/source/Mytchett) on 30 July. The floats were then removed and replaced again by skids and wheels for more flight trials.[1] Early on the morning of 7 August Cody carried out a 70-mile (113 km) test flight, with the plan of flying down to [Calshot](/source/Calshot), [Southampton](/source/Southampton), where the aircraft would be fitted with its floats to carry out test flights from water. He agreed, however, to give a flight to the [Hampshire](/source/Hampshire_County_Cricket_Club) cricketer [William Evans](/source/William_Evans_(cricketer%2C_born_1883)) and took off at 10:30 am with Evans as a passenger. After about eight minutes the aircraft broke up in the air at a height of about 200 ft (60 m) with Cody and Evans, who were not strapped in, being thrown out of the aircraft. Both were killed.[2] The [Royal Aero Club](/source/Royal_Aero_Club) accident investigation concluded that the accident was due to "inherent structural weakness", and suggested that Cody and Evans might have survived the crash if strapped in.[2][3]

## Specifications

*Data from* British Aircraft 1808–1914[4]

**General characteristics**

- **Crew:** one

- **Capacity:** one passenger

- **Length:** 40 ft 9 in (12.42 m)

- **Wingspan:** 59 ft 6 in (18.14 m)

- **Wing area:** 770 sq ft (72 m2)

- **Powerplant:** 1 × [Green Engine Co](/source/Green_Engine_Co) 6-cylinder inline water-cooled, 100 hp (75 kW)

- **Propellers:** 4-bladed, 10 ft 8 in (3.25 m) diameter

**Performance**

- **Maximum speed:** 70 mph (110 km/h, 61 kn)

## Notes

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Jarrett_AE_p16_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Jarrett_AE_p16_1-1) Jarrett *Air Enthusiast* July/August 1999, p. 16.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Jarrett_AE_p17_2-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Jarrett_AE_p17_2-1) Jarrett *Air Enthusiast* July/August 1999, p. 17.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** *Flight* 20 September 1913, p. 1040.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-lewp200_4-0)** Lewis 1962, p 200

## Bibliography

Wikimedia Commons has media related to [Cody Floatplane](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Cody_Floatplane).

- ["Accidents Investigation Committee of the Royal Aero Club: Report No. 17"](http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1913/1913%20-%201014.html). *Flight* (20 September 1913): 1040.

- [Jarrett, Philip](/source/Philip_Jarrett) (July–August 1999). "Cody and his Aeroplanes: Samuel Franklin Cody: His Life and Times". *Air Enthusiast* (82): 6–17. [ISSN](/source/ISSN_(identifier)) [0143-5450](https://search.worldcat.org/issn/0143-5450).

- Lewis, Peter (1962). *British Aircraft 1809–1914*. London: Putnam Publishing.

- ["The Cody Waterplane"](http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1913/1913%20-%200868.html). *[Flight](/source/Flight_International)* (16 August 1913): 894–896.

v t e Samuel Cody aircraft British Army Aeroplane No 1 Cody Michelin Cup Biplane Cody Circuit of Britain biplane Cody monoplane Cody V biplane Cody Waterplane

v t e Aviation accidents and incidents in the 1910s Jul 13, 1910 Erbslöh airship crash May 21, 1911 Paris to Madrid air race accident Feb 17, 1912 Martin-Handasyde No. 3 Jun 28, 1912 LZ 10 Schwaben May 13, 1912 Brooklands Flanders Monoplane crash Sep 10, 1912 Bristol Coanda Monoplane crash Dec 15, 1912 Handley Page Type F crash Apr 3, 1913 Zeppelin LZ 16 Apr 17, 1913 Zodiac balloon accident Aug 07, 1913 Cody Floatplane crash Sep 09, 1913 Helgoland disaster Oct 17, 1913 Johannisthal disaster Feb 17, 1915 Zeppelin LZ 24 Feb 17, 1915 Zeppelin LZ 27 Mar 05, 1915 Zeppelin LZ 33 May 20, 1915 Zeppelin LZ 30 Sep 03, 1915 Zeppelin LZ 40 Nov 17, 1915 Zeppelin LZ 52 fire Feb 01, 1916 Zeppelin LZ 54 crash May 03, 1916 Zeppelin LZ 59 crash Sep 04, 1916 Zeppelin LZ 56 Sep 16, 1916 Zeppelin LZ 31 fire Sep 16, 1916 Zeppelin LZ 36 fire Dec 28, 1916 Zeppelin LZ 53 fire Dec 28, 1916 Zeppelin LZ 69 fire Oct 08, 1917 Zeppelin LZ 102 Oct 19, 1917 Zeppelin LZ 50 Oct 20, 1917 Zeppelin LZ 85 crash Oct 20, 1917 Zeppelin LZ 89 crash Dec 14, 1917 Coastal class airship C.26 crash Apr 07, 1918 Zeppelin LZ 104 Aug 19, 1918 Maxstoke air crash May 26, 1919 Tarrant Tabor Jul 15, 1919 Airship N.S.11 crash Jul 21, 1919 Wingfoot Air Express crash Aug 02, 1919 Verona Caproni Ca. 48 crash For single-person aviation accidents see: Aviators killed in early aviation accidents before 1910 ◀ ▶ the 1920s

v t e Aviation accidents and incidents in the United Kingdom before 1920 1820s Thomas Harris (May 1824) 1890s Cecil Shadbolt (July 1892) Percy Pilcher (October 1899) 1910s 1910 Charles Rolls (July 1910) Cecil Grace (December 1910) 1912 Martin-Handasyde No. 3 crash (February 1912) Brooklands Flanders Monoplane crash (May 1912) Bristol Coanda Monoplane crash (September 1912) 1913 Cody Floatplane (August 1913) 1918 Maxstoke air crash (August 1918) 1919 Transatlantic flight of Alcock and Brown (June 1919) Airship N.S.11 crash (July 1919) 1820–1919 ► 1920–1929

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Cody Floatplane](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cody_Floatplane) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cody_Floatplane?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.