1910 The brothers Eldon Bush and Gilbert Bush had built built 3 gliders by 1910. No.1 was of the Wright type and failed to fly. No. 2 was a lightened version of the first and although it flew is was unstable. No. 3 was of the Curtis type and was built in 1910. The lower wings had ailerons hinged on their trailing edges. Span was 30ft, length 24ft & area 260 sq ft. The No.3 flew some short distances
Eldon Bush built the No.4 at Cambridge in 1910 while he was a student at the University. It was of the Farman type and was fitted with a wheeled undercarrige for auto-towing. It was constructed of hickory with fabric covered wings.
No.s 5, 6 & 7 were modifications of No. 4 with the front elevator removed. No. 7 was known as the 'Chocolate Soldier' and had Bleriot type elevators. It was smashed while under tow by a car.
The Bush Motorplane biplanes No.s 8 & 9 were built at Bath. No. 8 was built by Eldon & Gilbert in 1912. It was on the same lines as a Caudron tractor biplane and was a single seater. It was the intention to fit an in-line engine. However it was not possible to obtain such an engine within their budget, so the brothers accepted the loan of a 50hp Gnome Rotary. The nacelle was widened to suit the rotary engine, after which it was re-designated as the No.9.
It was planned that Eldon would demonstrate the biplane at Hendon. However during trials at Keynsham the propeller shaft snapped and a replacement engine could not be found before Eldon as due to go on business to Canada. On his return in 1915 Eldon joined the R.N.A.S., but was killed while flying on anti-submarine patrol from Fishguard in 1917.
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Sources of Information