Voisin flying his Zodiac aeroplane

 

Originally, George White of Bristol Aeroplanes wanted to build licensed copies of the Zodiac biplane designed by Gabriel Voisin, after one was bought by White to show at the 1910 London Aero Meet.

 

After taking the Zodiac to Brooklands airfield for tests, no one could get the plane of the ground—perhaps due to an under-powered engine to plane weight ratio, and the shallow camber of the wing section—a fact commented on by the pioneering aviation magazine, Flight.

 

To compensate for the wing problem, White and company added a different set… but still… a weak motor is a weak motor.

On May 28, 1910, pilot Maurice Edmond was able to achieve a short flight, but on June 10, 1910, an accident that damaged its undercarriage had the frustrated crew give up on the Zodiac… even with five other such copies being built by the British and Colonial Aeroplane Company at its headquarters at Filton.