GOODDEN Dragonfly monoplane (Frank Widenham Goodden, Elmthorpe Rd., Wolvercote, Oxfordshire)

   A gale in November 1911 destroyed the Imperial Aero Club, at Port Meadow, Oxford owned by J. Bett & Co., where Gooden was employed. He purchased the remains and built a new shed, in which he built a tractor monoplane. He flew this single-seater from the middle to the end of 1912, when he sold out and moved to Hendon. The Dragonfly was destroyed by fire, with the buildings, on 6 August 1913.
   The fuselage was of circular section, plywood covered at the front and faired to match at the rear, with stringers and fabric covering. The machine was of conventional layout and rested on its main wheels and front skid.
   The wings were cut back to the rear spar alongside the fuselage and were fitted with trailing ailerons, and braced by many cables to a pylon and the undercarriage structure. The flowing lines of the tail surfaces perhaps inspired the name.

   Power: 35hp JAP four-cylinder air-cooled vee.
   Data
   Span 30ft
   Area 168 sq ft
   Length 25 ft
   Weight allup 650lb
   Max speed 60 mph