In 1911 the British War Office announced their first Military Aeroplane Competition for aircraft to meet the requirements of the Air Battalion Royal Engineers.

[1] By the time the trials were held in August 1912, the Air Battalion had become the Military wing of the Royal Flying Corps (RFC).

[4] The only practical step that had been taken by the War Office was the creation of an establishment for the scientific examination of the various problems involved in aircraft design.

Aircraft had to be capable of being dismantled and transported by road or rail, and the ease of rigging and de-rigging would be one of the factors taken into account by the judges.

[2] The War Office issued an amended and slightly less demanding list of specifications in May 1912, and manufacturers were to submit their entries to the Secretary of the Judges Committee by 15 June.

[6] 3rd Prize of £500 in the British-built category, purchased by the Royal Flying Corps after trial French-built, 2nd prize in any country category of £2,000, purchased by the Royal Flying Corps The Cody biplane successfully passed all the tests and was declared winner of the competition, despite the fact that several other of the competitors (such as the Hanriot monoplanes) demonstrated better all-round performance.

These crashes resulted in a ban being imposed on monoplane use by the RFC,[12] which had a long-term effect on the course of British aircraft design.