Balston

History

Reginald Mansfield Balston was born on 5 July 1871 in Boxley, Maidstone, Kent, the son of Richard and Emily Balston.

Little is known of Balston's machines, the earliest being reported built at Cadland, near Southampton in 1895-1900, referred to as an 'orthornicopter'. He built a large model to compete in the Daily Mail contest at Alexandra Palace in 1907, when A.V. Roe won the main prize. The man carrying machine followed in 1908 and was built mainly of bamboo. His patent No.23235 of 1905 relates to folding wings for aircraft to facilitate transport. Three further patents were assigned to Balston in the early 1920s relating to rotary engine improvements.

Balston was a member of the Kite Flying Association and in 1907 he was advertising ‘Zenith’ and ‘Butterfly‘ kites for sale, and presented several papers to the RAeS on kiting. He was a member of the Aero Club of Great Britain from 1910, as was his wife Muriel (nee Hilton) and a member of the Airship Club from its inauguration in 1926.

In 1922, under the name Inventions Development Syndicate, Balston submitted an entry to the 1922 Itford Gliding Competition. Though given Competition Number 24, it did not participate and nothing more is known.

Balston died on 9 February 1958 in London.

Company References

1. British Aircraft Before The Great War, Michael H. Goodall and Albert E. Tagg (Schiffer Publishing Ltd., 2001)
2. ancestry.co.uk