Griffith Brewer (23 July 1867–1 March 1948)Penrose 1967, p.575 was an English balloonist,

aviator An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators, because they a ...

and patent agent. He was also a founding member of the Royal Aero Club. He became a friend of the Wright Brothers, and was one of their main supporters."Grace's Guide To British Industrial History: Biographies: Griffith Brewer."
Retrieved 24 July 2018. On 8 October 1908 at Camp d'Auvours, France, 11 Kilometers east of Le Mans, Griffith flew as a passenger with Wilbur Wright. The flight lasted for 4 minutes and 22 seconds. In doing so, he became the first Englishman to go up in an aeroplane.Dr. Richard Stimso
"Wright Contemporaries: Griffith Brewer A Friend Of The Wrights"
Retrieved 24 July 2018 Prior to this, Griffith had been a doubter about the chances of heavier-than-air machines being at all successful for flying. The Wright's also had many other doubters in Europe before those demonstrations in France. But after this flight in 1908, and the demonstrations by them, he became a close friend and supporter of the Wright brothers and made many trips to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

to visit them. Griffith gained his

pilot licence Pilot licensing or certification refers to permits for operating aircraft. Flight crew licences are regulated by ICAO Annex 1 and issued by the civil aviation authority of each country. CAA’s have to establish that the holder has met a specifi ...

in 1914. He arranged that the British government should get use of the Wright's patents for £15,000 in 1914. This meant that British aircraft manufacturers were free of the threat of litigation. Griffith was President of the

Royal Aeronautical Society The Royal Aeronautical Society, also known as the RAeS, is a British multi-disciplinary professional institution dedicated to the global aerospace community. Founded in 1866, it is the oldest aeronautical society in the world. Members, Fellows, ...

(RAeS) from 1940 to 1942.http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1941/1941%20-%201596.html

Notes

References

* Penrose, Harald ''British Aviation: The Pioneer Years''. London, Putnam, 1967. *

External links

"Comfort and Confidence on Liberators"
a 1941 ''Flight'' article by Brewer on his transatlantic flight British aviation pioneers English aviators 1867 births 1948 deaths People from London {{aviation-bio-stub