His Majesty's Balloon Factory

The origins of His Majesty’s Balloon Factory can be traced back to 1862 when Captain F Beaumont and Lieutenant George glover attempted to introduce ballooning to the British Army, after seeing its successful employment in the American Civil War. This was unsuccessful as the War Office was unwilling to invest the extensive resources require in a ‘time of profound peace’.

It wasn’t until 1878 that it was accepted there was a need for balloons in the army and as such Captain James Lethbridge Brooke Templer and Captain H.P. Lee were employed at the Woolwich Arsenal to design and build them. This became known, unofficially, as the School of Ballooning and, after some initial designs were produced, it was moved to Chatham. Here, in addition to experiments into airship fabric and the production of hydrogen, there were also developments relating to the design of winches and the use of traction engines. In 1892 the School was again moved this time to Aldershot, in order to bring it into the mainstream of the British Army. Here some experiments with man-lifting kites were conducted by Captain B.F.S. Baden-Powell but these were quickly abandoned. On 1st April 1897 the name of the establishment was changed to the Balloon Factory.

In 1903 a Committee of Enquiry was established to determine the future of British military aviation and this recommended that work on peripheral equipment, such as traction engines, should be stopped and in stead all efforts should be focused on airships, man-lifting kites, balloon winches and photographic equipment. It also recommended that the Balloon Factory should be relocated and it was later decided that a new site near Farnborough would be appropriate. By May 1905 the factory had been moved to its new site.

In June 1904 experiments had been undertaken to determine the effectiveness of kites designed by Samuel F Cody. These were found to be superior to those then in use and Cody was brought in to instruct on their use, before being appointed Chief Kite Instructor in April 1906. Around the same time John William Dunne arrived and began to develop his idea of inherently stable aircraft. These designs would be tested in 1907 in Scotland but would crash before they could attain a powered flight.

In December 1906 the first wind tunnel was completed at Farnborough, based on one at the National Physical Laboratory, and was used for the testing of propellers and the streamlining of struts and other components.

By 10th September 1907 the factory’s first airship, Nulli Secundus, was complete and was able to undertake a short test flight. Further tests would follow and on 5th October it would fly to London, although it was unable to return due to the strength of the wind and had to land at Crystal Palace. Following this there would be further experiments on balloons as well as kites and aeroplanes, both to Cody and Dunne’s designs.

On 1st April 1908 a further name change was undertaken this time to His Majesty’s Balloon Factory. Also further work would be undertaken on Dunne’s aeroplane, although further difficulties would be encountered. On 19th September 1908 Army Aeroplane No 1, designed by Cody, was completed and began ground and engine tests. Although some short hops were achieved it wasn’t until 16th October that it made its first sustained flight. This was achieved at a height of 30 feet and continued until it crash whilst trying to avoid trees. Although damaged the aircraft was repaired and further tests were conducted in January 1909.

Despite the success of Cody’s design, a sub-committee of the Committee of Imperial Defence decided that the progress achieved had been limited when compared to the funds that had been required. It believed that airships were better suited to military applications and that any aeroplanes that were needed could be obtained from commercial manufactures. As a result April 1909 saw the end of the development of aeroplanes at the Balloon Factory and both Cody and Dunne ceased to be employed by it.

Further changes would follow later in 1909 when the Advisory Committee for Aeronautics recommend that the factory should no longer be a military establishment but rather it decided that it should become a civilian one with a superintendent reporting directly to the War Office. This was implemented in October 1909 when Mervyn O’Gorman was brought in as the first civilian superintendent of the factory.

Although the name His Majesty’s Balloon Factory was retained this would be later changed to His Majesty’s Aircraft Factory and then the Royal Aircraft Factory.