Cordner
J. Cordner
Contents
History
Joseph Cordner was born on 11 February 1875 in Derryinver, Co. Armagh, the son of Isaiah (Ussiagh) Cordner and Anne Cordner (née Calvert). Educated locally, Joseph opened a bicycle shop in Lurgan about 1900. In 1908 he moved to Derry, establishing his own business, the Royal Cycle Works, at 5 John St. He began to experiment with building an aeroplane, his design featuring a unique arrangement of V-shaped channels or slots underneath, controlled by the pilot to steer and land the aircraft.
Uncertainty, owing to a lack of support documents and reliable witnesses, overshadowed his claim to have made the first Irish aeroplane flight in the summer or autumn of 1908, with subsequent trials lasting into 1909. He was challenged by aviation pioneer Harry Ferguson, who subsequently received credit for the first Irish flight on 31 December 1909. Neither Cordner's nor his passengers claims that he had reputedly flown in 1909 could be confirmed. Brian Mitchell, of Derry Genealogy [1], indicates that Cordner himself did not fly the aircraft but had an Englishman called Pratt, who was an engineer, to do so. Pratt was injured in the crash by the piano wire which was used to support the wings and as far as is known did not fly again. Cordner had kept the flight secret, and had in fact sent the plane as ‘machinery’ by the Lough Swilly goods train to Fahan railway station where he collected it and took it down to the beach to assemble it. The only witnesses to the flight were Cordner, Pratt and photographer Ernest George Harries, who took the picture of the plane.
Mitchell also indicates Cordner may have built two iterations of the first aircraft; the first was flight tested at Lisfannan, between Fahan and Buncrana, County Donegal circa 1909. He then modified that aircraft in his workshop at his home in Pine Street in the Waterside district of Derry and flight tested it in a nearby football field at Bond’s Hill. Finally, he then built a new aircraft around 1912 which he took to a field on Hyndman’s farm in townland of Campsey Upper, four miles northeast of Derry city. Many spectators came to watch. Seemingly when the motor started up, with the throttle open, Joseph Cordner had insufficient time to get into the plane. The plane started up with Joseph Cordner and his son Joseph hanging on to the wings and Edward hanging onto the rudder. As the plane started to rise, they had to let go and the plane crashed into a tree. In September 1911 he had received a patent, No. 2521/1911, for his underwing V-shaped channels wing design. After the prototype's accidental destruction, he then experimented with vertical flight.
Following the outbreak of World War I, Cordner joined the RFC. He gained his RAeC Aviators Certificate, No.3545, flying a Hall Biplane at the Hall School of Flying, Hendon, granted on 6 September 1916, and subsequently trained pilots there until the 1918 Armistice, prior to demobilisation.
On 22 April 1919 he obtained his patent for a rotary aircraft, potentially capable of vertical or conventional flight, including multi-functional military applications, distantly anticipating the helicopter and the jump-jet. A month later, amid the international flurry of postwar aviation adventures which lasted until the 1930s, he and Geoffrey Smiles of the Belfast Ropeworks manufacturing family flew an Avro 504K biplane from Hendon to Edinburgh and south-west via Turnberry in Ayrshire to Portrush, Co. Antrim, appearing there unexpectedly on the Sunday night of 25 May 1919. After a show of aerobatics including ‘looping the loop’ they were greeted on landing by excited crowds, witnessing what the newspapers announced as the first landing of a civilian aeroplane in Ireland since the government had lifted restrictions on passenger and freight travel at the beginning of May.
Cordner and Smiles reported that they had placed an order for smaller aircraft with the London Provincial Aviation Company, to fly passenger trips to practically any part of Ireland. They intended to attempt an Atlantic crossing later in the summer of 1919. Less than a month later, Alcock and Brown succeeded in their transatlantic bid.
Cordner faded from the historical record, although he continued privately to develop vertical-take-off aircraft models. His achievement remained virtually unacknowledged in his lifetime as the Irish pioneer of modern flight, although the first to land in the country after the armistice. Joseph Cordner died on 21 December 1963 in Dundonald, Down, Northern Ireland.
Company References
Project Data
| Project No | Type No | Name | Alternative Name(s) | Year | Spec (Requirement) | Status | Qty | Description | References |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monoplane No.1 | 1909 | Proto | 1 | 1S, 1E monoplane | 1 | ||||
| Monoplane No.2 | 1911 | Proto | 1 | 1S, 1E monoplane | 1, 2 |
Project References
- British Aircraft Before The Great War, Michael H. Goodall and Albert E. Tagg (Schiffer Publishing Ltd., 2001)
- Flight 3 Dec 1915
Production Details and Type Description
Single seat tractor monoplane. The triangular braced wooden girder fuselage, initially open but later covered with linen.. The main undercarriage members continued up past the upper longerons to create a substantial A-frame, to which the wing bracing wires were attached., A large nosewheel was provided, though on the ground the aircraft rested on its tail skid. The wing was most unusual; although conventional in planform, it consisted of a series of triangular chordwise tunnels ducting air from the below leading edge and expelling it just forward of the upper trailing edge. A one piece tailplane was mounted on the upper longerons, featuring these same triangular chordwise tunnels. There was no fin or rudder. One 40 h.p. J.A.P. powerplant.
Single seat tractor monoplane. The rectangular braced wooden girder fuselage, fully covered with linen except for the engine area. A coventional tailplane was fitted to the upper longerons, fitted with split elevators, and a rudder was attached to the stern post. A conventional twin wheel undercarriage was fitted, along with a central skid. The wing was similar to the first machine, with single acting ailerons fitted above the outboard trailing edge. One 40 h.p. Anzani powerplant.
Total Cordner Production2