Captain Bertram Dickson FRGS RHA
In September 1910, an Army captain persuaded key political and Army figures of the importance of air power....
Pioneering aviator Captain Bertram Dickson FRGS RHA demonstrated how the Bristol Boxkite could be used to gather intelligence over the countryside during the Autumn Army Manoevres at Larkhill, Wiltshire.
The Boxkite (officially the Bristol Biplane) was the first aircraft produced by the British and Colonial Aeroplane Company (later known as the Bristol Aeroplane Company).
A pusher biplane based on the successful Farman III, it was one of the first aircraft types to be built in quantity. As the type was used by Bristol for instruction purposes at their flying schools at Larkhill and Brooklands many early British aviators learned to fly in a Boxkite. Four were purchased in 1911 by the War Office and examples were sold to Russia and Australia. It continued to be used for training purposes until after the outbreak of the First World War.
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