Aviation in Britain Before the First World War A good close up of Austro-Daimler engine mounted on Cody aircraft mark V. With the help of his family and friends Cody built the mark V mainly from the remains of the mark III in just four weeks, after both the aircraft that he intended to enter in the trials were written off. It was powered by the 120 hp Austro-Daimler engine which was relatively unscathed from the crashes it had been in. Note the triangular rudders similar to those on the monoplane. It was with this machine that Cody won both the International Division and the British Division (GBP5000 prize in total) of the 1912 military trials, a competition to find an aircraft for the army. 32 machines were entered from 21 companies in a series of tests. These tests covered areas such as rate of climb, speed (both fast and slow), glide angle, landing distance, time of assembly and ability to fly in a high wind. The aircraft had to meet certain other criteria such as having dual contr