In December 1911 the British War Office announced a competition for a Military aeroplane capable of carrying a pilot and observer for the recently established Royal Flying Corps.

[1][2] The American showman and aviation pioneer Samuel Cody, who had developed a system of man-carrying kites from 1901, built his first aircraft, the British Army Aeroplane No 1 at the Army Balloon Factory at Farnborough in 1908, making its first flight, recognised as the first powered controlled flight in the United Kingdom on 16 October 1908.

[3] In order to compete for the prize money offered by the War Office, Cody decided to design and build a new monoplane, while also entering his existing biplane that had finished fourth in the 1911 Daily Mail Circuit of Britain Air Race.

[4][5] Cody's previous designs were pusher canard biplanes, but the new aircraft was a tractor high-winged monoplane powered by a single 120 hp (89 kW) Austro-Daimler engine which had been fitted to an Etrich Taube which had crashed during the 1911 Circuit of Britain, which Cody had purchased after the race.

[4][5][6] The monoplane made its maiden flight on 21 June 1912,[5] but on 8 July a cow ran into the path of the aircraft during landing.