Issue No 22 THE AVIATION HISTORIAN 125
aeroplane flights in Europe and the USA were
frequently appearing in the national press, and
in the latter part of the year Wilbur Wright made
impressive flying demonstrations in France that
drew much attention.
Having purchased a set of drawings for a
flying model of the Wright biplane from a local
model shop, Sydney built one, but it did not
fly well. Likewise, in 1909 he built a model of
the monoplane that Blériot had flown across
the Channel; but this, too, was a poor flyer.
Undeterred, Sydney persisted and eventually
produced a successful rubber-powered propeller-
driven model aeroplane based on other designs
he had seen. Fred joined him in the venture, and
they flew their aeroplanes in local fields and in
Windsor Great Park. They then began supplying
a local model shop with finished models, and
also sold them to boys at Eton College.
In 1911 Sydney and Fred, along with other
enthusiastic local boys, formed the Windsor
Model Aeroplane Club (WMAC), and Sydney
became its secretary. Reports on the WMAC’s
activities, written by Fred, were published in
British weekly magazine Flight, and in 1912
construction of a 32ft (9·8m)-span manned
biplane glider (seen ABOVE) with weight-shift
control was undertaken. This was completed late
in the year and tests were made early in 1913.
Although this glider was flown by five members
of the club, it was not really successful and
was wrecked in a gale that March. The group
then built a second glider, with a better but still
rudimentary control system and a wheeled
undercarriage, and spanning 25ft (7·6m). This
was flown successfully in May 1913 with another
younger Camm brother, Charles, as its “pilot”,
who was instructed not to touch the controls.
Some of the model aeroplanes built by WMAC
members were displayed at the Aero Show in
Olympia, London, in February 1913, and during
the summer Sydney took third place in a model
aircraft meeting at Hendon. Both brothers paid
visits to Brooklands and Hendon to see the
flying, and in September they saw the French
pilot Adolphe Pégoud “looping the loop”.POWER BUT NO GLORY
Next, the WMAC embarked on the design
and construction of a powered tractor biplane,
obtaining a two-cylinder 20 h.p. Edwards/
Cowley engine to power it. By June 1914 the
fuselage was almost complete, and the wings
were ready for covering by September; but the
declaration of war caused work on the machine
to be abandoned, although the engine had been
fitted. The engine survives today at Brooklands
Museum in Surrey.
The extent of Sydney’s contribution to these
WMAC projects is unknown, but during his
apprenticeship he also studied the preparation of
working drawings in evening classes.
Having completed his apprenticeship,
Sydney joined the Martin & Handasyde aircraft
company (“Martinsyde”) on the shop floor as a
carpenter, but before the war’s end he had been
promoted to become a trainee draughtsman in
the design office. There, in his own words, he
gained “a great deal of practical experience”
under the company’s chief draughtsman, John
Stanbury, most probably working on detail
design. He also made design contributions
to the company’s post-war motorcycle. After
Martinsyde went into receivership in 1920, in