Armstrong No.1 at Beverley.
The bulk of this aeroplane was purchased by Beverley's Gordon Armstrong as a second hand Bleriot without an engine, possibly as parts and also possibly with a damaged fuselage. It may have been purchased in a damaged state from the air race meeting at Doncaster racecoure in October 1909 as the owner / pilot of it at Beverley is known to have attended the event. If so then it may have been the Bleriot Hubert le Blon damaged at Doncaster on 25th October 1909 but purely speculation on my part. Gordon Armstong built / rebuilt the aeroplane in his Riding Motor Garage, on Tiger Lane, Beverley and once complete it resembled a Bleriot with a number of differences. He was given permission to use the area of Westwood at Beverley for his flight trials. He attempted to fly it on the evening of 26th August 1910, the aeroplane became airborne but a strong wind prevented him flying any distance although the period newspaper states that he succeeded in "keeping up" for around an hour. On landing the tail wheel was smashed off. The aeroplane was taken back to his garage and was soon repaired as a second flying attempt was well publicised in the area and so much so that a large crowd had gathered. On the evening of 1st September 1910 a newspaper report of the time states that at 5pm it was pushed from his garage (on Tiger Lane, Beverley) to Westwood. The owner / pilot unfortunately injured or broke his hand on the propeller just before getting into the aeroplane prior to the atempted flight. When released the aircraft set off along the ground for some distance, unfortunately as it set off several hundred people began to run after it. I can find no mention that the aeroplane actually becoming airborne on this attempt, the pilot got to the end of the space and turned around to head back in the opposite direction but was then faced with hundreds of people directly in his path. He managed to slow or stop the aeroplane but in making a turn this caused a front wheel to buckle and the back axle to bend. The aeroplane was pushed back to the Tiger Land garage where it was repaired and modified.
Another attempt was made but whether this was successful and then what happened to the aeroplane I have yet to learn. Armstrong was refused permission to use the land at Westwood for his flying trials and struggled to find a suitable location.
Pilot - Mr Fullerton George Gordon Armstrong.
Gordon Armstrong was born in 1885 in Northumberland. By 1910 he has a successful motorbike and car manufacturing business in Beverley when he bought the aeroplane parts and made the Armstrong No.1. During the First World War his company made shells. His company existed until 1962 when he merged with Robert Massey to form Armstrong Massey, a famous Yorkshire company. Gordon Armstrong died in July 1969. The photograph above was found on Facebook and shows the partly constructed Armstrong No.1 at Westwood which must have been prior to the incident on 1st September 1910 as after this incident it was modified with a tail skid rather than a tail wheel. It is wingless and appears to about to be or was having it's engine tested at the time the photograph was taken.