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18-693: ASL were most well known as manufacturer of the ASL Valkyrie series of tail-first or canard monoplanes. Horatio Barber had made a fortune in Canada when, back in England, he met the friends William Manning and Howard Wright. They were both electrical engineers with, like Barber, a keen interest in aeronautics. In 1909 they formed the Aeronautical Syndicate Limited and Manning was appointed Chief Designer. They first set up under

36-470: A box of light-bulbs from Shoreham to Hove, the first commercial air cargo flight in Britain. Barber gave the £100 he was paid to charity. Another notable early flight was made when Miss Eleanor Trehawke Davies chartered Barber to fly her from Hendon to Brighton and back. The flight, hampered by cloud and high winds, took two days. Miss Trehawke Davies was a notable flying enthusiast, and was later to become

54-560: A conventional tractor biplane. The Viking failed to sell. Due to the lack of any commercial prospects, the company was wound up in April 1912, most of its assets being acquired by Handley Page . ASL Valkyrie The ASL Valkyrie was a canard pusher configuration aircraft designed by the Aeronautical Syndicate Ltd in 1910. Examples were widely flown during 1911 and were used for instructional purposes at

72-619: A railway arch in Battersea, next to the Short Brothers who were another early aeronautical manufacturer. However ASL needed somewhere to fly their machines. They soon moved to a rented site at Durrington Down on Salisbury Plain, a location which would later become known as Lark Hill. The first aircraft, the ASL monoplane No.1 , was of canard layout with a pusher propeller driven by a 37 kW (50 hp) Antoinette V-8 engine. The pilot

90-663: The Gnome 50 hp ) is a French seven-cylinder, air-cooled aero engine produced by Gnome et Rhône . It was shown at the Paris Aero Salon held in December 1908 and was first flown in 1909. It was the world's first aviation rotary engine produced in quantity. Its introduction revolutionized the aviation industry and it was used by many early aircraft. It produced 37 kW (50 hp) from its 8 L (490 cu in) engine capacity . A Gnome Omega engine powers

108-559: The 1912 Blackburn Monoplane , owned and operated by the Shuttleworth Collection , the oldest known airworthy British-designed aeroplane worldwide. A two-row version of the same engine was also produced, known as the Gnome 14 Omega-Omega or Gnome 100 hp . The prototype Omega engine still exists, and is on display at the United States' National Air and Space Museum . Like all early Gnome et Rhône engines

126-623: The ASL flying school, which was the first occupant of Hendon Aerodrome in London. Following two designs styled simply monoplanes Nos. 1 and 2, ASL's third design was called the Valkyrie. All three were of tail-first or canard layout with rear-mounted engines and pusher propellers. The Valkyrie A or Valkyrie I took place over the summer of 1910 and the aircraft was first flown in October 1910 at

144-402: The Valkyrie monoplane was a successful design. Most of the aircraft produced were used for training and exhibition purposes, principally at the ASL's flight school at Hendon. On 25 May 1911 a six-week-old Valkyrie from the Valkyrie school crashed killing the student pilot Bernard Benson, only the third Briton to be killed in an aircraft accident. On 4 July 1911 a Valkyrie flown by Barber carried

162-520: The aircraft. Two aircraft were delivered to Eastchurch in September 1911, but were not flown there. On 28 September 1911 C. R. Samson reported them unairworthy, needing extensive refurbishment. This was not considered worthwhile, since Samson did not consider them suitable for instructional work. Data from Lewis, P. British Aircraft 1809-1914 General characteristics Performance Gnome Omega The Gnome 7 Omega (commonly called

180-416: The centre-section of the wing, the leading edge of which was set back from that of the outer sections. A pair of foreplanes, one fixed and the other moveable, were mounted on a pair of widely spaced wire-braced mahogany side-frames, each having a straight upper boom and a curved lower member. The twin rudders were initially mounted on the kingposts at the rear of these frames, in line with the trailing edge of

198-512: The first passenger to be carried between London and Paris. Four aircraft were given to the War Office to promote military aviation in Britain. One of these crashed at Hendon on 17 September 1911 when on a trial flight after a new engine had been fitted: the pilot, Lieutenant Reginald Archibald Cammell was killed. The accident was not considered to be due to faults in the aircraft, but to have been caused by Cammell's lack of experience with

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216-477: The newly established Hendon Aerodrome , where the ASL had leased three hangars next to those occupied by the Blériot school. Although this aircraft shared the same canard configuration as its predecessor, there were significant alterations. It was powered by a 35 hp 4-cyl Green C.4 engine mounted in front of the leading edge of the wing, driving a 7 ft 3 in (2.21 m) pusher propeller directly in front of

234-553: The wing but after trials were moved aft, each being mounted on two short booms. In addition a small area of the sideframes at the front of the aircraft was given a fabric covering. Work was immediately started on two more aircraft, both with the same general arrangement. The first to fly, on 12 November, was a smaller aircraft referred to as the Racer or Valkyrie B . A larger machine, the Passenger Carrier or Valkyrie C

252-470: The wing's leading edge: in front of him a square-section fuselage of uncovered wire-braced wooden construction carried the 12 ft (3.7 m) span foreplane , a small rudder and a pair of nosewheels. Woodrow flew it on many test flights, eventually crashing it when the foreplane was experimentally set at too steep an angle. The third design was named the Valkyrie and first flew in September 1910. It

270-531: Was Barber's chauffeur , Bertie Woodrow, but it was overweight and failed to fly. It was later sold off and is believed to have crashed on its first real flight. The ASL monoplane No.2 appeared in the spring of 1910. Also of canard design, it had a 42 feet (13 m) wing-span and was powered by a rear-mounted 60 hp (45 kW) Green D.4 engine mounted above the trailing edge of the wing and driving an 8 ft 2 in (2.49 m) diameter two-bladed pusher propeller. The pilot sat immediately in front of

288-519: Was flown a few days later and is sometimes referred to as the Valkyrie II , its works number. The first Type B built is sometimes referred by its works number as the Valkyrie III . Both types were of broadly similar layout and construction to the Valkyrie A, differing principally in size and the engine that was used. The Type B, which seated two people side by side in front of the leading edge,

306-488: Was powered by a 50 hp (37 kW) Gnome rotary engine and had a wingspan of 31 ft (9.4 m) The Type C, which seated three people, was powered by a 60 hp Green water-cooled engine and had a wingspan of 39 ft (12 m). At least twelve were constructed, the last of these in early 1912. Most of the aircraft constructed were Type B, at least one of which was fitted with dual controls. Although they were considered tricky to fly, by contemporary standards

324-606: Was produced in significant numbers and in several variants, typically powered by a 60 hp (45 kW) Gnome Sigma engine. ASL gained a reputation for the quality of their work and also took on commissions for other clients. The last of the company's designs to be built was the Viking I . The tailplane stabiliser and front-mounted tractor propeller had by now become established as the conventional layout, while an increasing number of manufacturers were hedging their bets by building both monoplanes and biplanes. The Viking I emerged as

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