He is most famous for his work on the large kites known as Cody War-Kites, that were used by the British before World War I as a smaller alternative to balloons for artillery spotting.

In 1888, at 21 years of age, Cody started touring the US with Forepaugh's Circus, which at the time had a large Wild West show component.

He married Maud Maria Lee in Norristown, Pennsylvania, and the name Samuel Franklin Cody appears on the April 1889 marriage certificate.

Evidence suggests that by the autumn of 1891, Maud was unable to perform with her husband because of injury, morphine addiction, the onset of schizophrenia, or a combination of these ills.

She took her younger sons with her [Leon and Vivian] but left her daughter, Liese, with husband Ted who was in the early stages of Bright's disease.

While in England, Cody, Lela and her sons Leon and Vivian toured the music halls, which were very popular at the time, giving demonstrations of his horse riding, shooting and lassoing skills.

Cody liked to recount a tale that he first became inspired by a Chinese cook; who, apparently, taught him to fly kites, whilst travelling along the old cattle trail.

Cody showed an early interest in the creation of kites capable of flying to high altitudes and of carrying a man.

Financed by his shows, Cody significantly developed Lawrence Hargrave's double-cell box kite to increase its lifting power, especially by adding wings on either side.

He also developed a sophisticated system of flying multiple kites up a single line, which was capable of ascending to many thousands of feet or of carrying several men in a gondola.

Cody realised that kites, which can only be operated in stronger winds, would allow these activities to be carried out in a wider range of weather conditions.

The Factory would eventually become the Royal Aircraft Establishment, and Vivian Cody would go on to a long and successful career as a technical specialist.

Somewhat similar to his standard kite but with bigger wings and a tailplane with twin fins in place of the rear cell, this was fitted with a 15 hp Buchet engine.

It was not allowed to fly free; Cody strung a long aerial wire down the length of the Farnborough Balloon Shed and flew it indoors.

On 5 October 1907, Britain's first powered airship British Army Dirigible No 1 Nulli Secundus, flew from Farnborough to London in 3 hours 25 minutes, with Cody and his commanding officer Colonel J E Capper on board.

After circling St Paul's Cathedral, they attempted to return to Farnborough, but 18 mph (29 km/h) headwinds forced them to land in south London at the Crystal Palace.

After just under a year of construction, he started testing the machine in September 1908, gradually lengthening his "hops" until they reached 1,390 ft (420 m) on 16 October 1908.

The War Office then decided to stop development of heavier-than-air aircraft, and Cody's contract with the Army ended in April 1909.

He set off from Aintree Racecourse at 12.16 p.m., but 19 minutes later he was forced to land at Valencia Farm near to Eccleston Hill, St Helens, close to Prescot, because of thick fog.

In 1911, his third aircraft was the only British machine to complete the Daily Mail's "Circuit of Great Britain" air race, finishing fourth, for which achievement he was awarded the Silver Medal of the R.Ae.C.

[21] A commemorative statue of Cody, adjacent to the Farnborough Air Sciences Trust Museum, was unveiled by 94-year-old Captain Eric "Winkle" Brown in August 2013.

[25] A team of volunteer enthusiasts built a full-sized replica of British Army Aeroplane No 1 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the first flight.

A fuller account of the fictitious day's flying appeared in Broomfield's biography of Cody, Pioneer of the Air, 1953.

It was endorsed by Geoffrey de Havilland who provided the foreword and C. G. Grey, editor of the journal Aeroplane, who wrote the Introduction.