M.Goodall, A.Tagg British Aircraft before the Great War (Schiffer)
Deleted by request of (c)Schiffer Publishing
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
P.Lewis British Aircraft 1809-1914 (Putnam)
Goodden Monoplane
Frank Widdenham Goodden built his single-seat tractor monoplane at Wolvercote, Oxford, during 1912. It was powered by the eight-cylinder 35 h.p. J.A.P. engine and flew at Port Meadow Aerodrome, from mid-1912 until 1913. Frank Goodden later became Chief Test Pilot of the Royal Aircraft Factory, Farnborough, where he was killed flying the prototype S.E.5 in January, 1917. Span, 30 ft. Length, 25 ft. Wing area, 168 sq. ft. Maximum speed, 60 m.p.h.