Students were not led away from potentially dangerous manoeuvres but deliberately exposed to them in controlled environments so they could learn to recover from errors of judgement.

[2] Smith-Barry was later described by Lord Trenchard as the man who "taught the air forces of the world how to fly".

5 Squadron RFC, Smith-Barry's Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.8 had an engine failure and crashed, killing his passenger.

Smith-Barry had had two broken legs but on hearing of the imminent arrival of Germans he managed to get back to England on his own accord.

[4] Smith-Barry died in Durban, South Africa on 23 April 1949, aged 63, following an operation on his leg, which had troubled him since the crash in 1914.