alisbury
Plain and the beginnings of the air force. Some civilians were also at
work. During the manoeuvres of 1910 Mr. Robert Loraine, in a Bristol
machine fitted with transmitting apparatus, succeeded in sending
wireless messages, from a distance of a quarter of a mile, to a
temporary receiving station rigged up at Larkhill. The earliest
permanent establishment at Larkhill seems to have been an aeroplane shed
tenanted by Mr. H. Barber, who subsequently held a commission in the Air
Force. Mr. Barber was a man of independent means, and being convinced
that flying would play a great part in war, he spent his time in
devising aeroplanes for naval and military purposes. He founded a firm
of his own, called 'The Aeronautical Syndicate', and produced a type of
monoplane with elevator in front, which, in its later development, was
named the 'Valkyrie'. He taught a good many people to fly, but none of
them, except himself, became expert pilots. The 'Valkyrie' was the last
survivor of the earliest type of flying machine, often called the
'Canard' type, because the elevator is extended in front like the head
of a duck in flight, and serves to balance the machine. When this type
of machine was at last superseded by the more shapely modern design, Mr.
Barber's syndicate died a natural death. At the outbreak of war he
joined the Royal Flying Corps, and became one of its leading technical
instructors, with the rank of captain.

The second shed erected at Larkhill was built by the War Office and was
intended for the use of the Hon. C. S. Rolls, so that he might give
instruction to army pilots. The death of Mr. Rolls at the Bournemouth
meeting in July 19th (one of the heaviest losses that aviation has
suffered in this country) put an end to that scheme, and the shed was
assigned, later on, to Captain Fulton. The third shed was erected by Mr.
G. B. Cockburn, who on his return from France applied to the War Office
for leave to carry on at Larkhill. Mr. Cockburn was the first, he says,
actually to fly over Salisbury Plain. He worked hand in hand with
Captain Fulton, to whom he lent his Farman machine (the first machine
built by Henri Farman after he left the Voisin firm) in order that
Captain Fulton might pass the tests for the pilot's certificate in
November 1910. The two together did much good work at Larkhill, and were
successful in gaining a certain measure of recognition for the aeroplane
among the army units on the plain.

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