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Aeronautical Syndicate

Aeronautical Syndicate Ltd
ASL


History

Horatio Claude Barber (b. 11 September 1875 – d. 6 July 1964), was an early pioneer of aviation in the United Kingdom.

Having become enamoured with the new science of aeronautics, on return to England from France he found a suitable workshop in some disused railway arches at Battersea and there began construction but, lacking engineering knowledge, entrusted the work to a consulting engineer, Howard Wright. The monoplane was completed and delivered in the first week of June 1909 to Larkhill on Salisbury Plain, where Barber had erected a shed to house it.

Meanwhile, the Aeronautical Syndicate Ltd had been formed in the preceding April. The directors and only shareholders at that time were Charles Worsley Battersby and Herman Rudolph Schmettau. The former was a stockbroker of the partnership of R.C. May and Battersby and the latter a solicitor of the firm of Hays, Schmettau and Dunn, who appear to have acted for Barber and provided him with a poste restante address at that time. Barber was the Syndicate's general manager but he never became a shareholder. At the formation of the company Barber sold it his patents, monoplane and hangar, by which it might be inferred that the Syndicate provided him with the finance necessary for him to continue his experiments. By March 1910 his designs were making successful flights and in September 1910 the Syndicate became the first occupant of the sheds newly erected at Hendon flying field; there Barber gained his RAeC Aviators Certificate, No 30, on 22 November of the same year, flying a Valkyrie Monoplane.

On 4 July 1911 the Valkyrie B was used to transport the first air cargo in Britain (a box of Osram lamps). Early in 1912 the twin-propeller Viking biplane was built, which was to be the last of Barber's designs. He continued his research and experimental work for a few months but in April 1912 withdrew from active aviation due to increasing costs. The company's aircraft and spares were to have been auctioned on April 24, but that was preempted by Frederick Handley Page who paid cash for all the assets of ASL.

Company References
  1. Aeroplanes of the Royal Flying Corps, The, J.M. Bruce (Putnam, 1982)
  2. British Aircraft Before The Great War, Michael H. Goodall and Albert E. Tagg (Schiffer Publishing Ltd., 2001
  3. British Aviation, The Pioneer Years, Harald Penrose (Putnam, 1967)
  4. English Electric Aircraft and their Predecessors, Stephen Ransom and Robert Fairclough (Putnam, 1987)
  5. The Wight Aircraft, Michael H. Goodall (Gentry Books, 1973)




Project Data top

Project No
Type No
Name
Alternative Name(s)
Year
Spec (Requirement)
Status
Qty
Description
References
     Monoplane No.1    1909    Proto  1  1S, 1E tractor monoplane  1,2,4,5,6
     Monoplane No.2    1910    Proto  1  1S, 1E tractor monoplane  1,2,4
     Valkyrie Type A(1)    1910    Proto  11+  1S, 1E canard pusher monoplane  1,2,3,8
     Valkyrie Type B    1910    Pdn  2+  2S, 1E canard pusher monoplane  1,2,3,7
     Valkyrie Type C    1910    Pdn  4+  3S, 1E canard pusher monoplane  1,2,3
     Viking    1912    Proto  1  2S, 1E tractor biplane  1,2,9

Notes
  1. Flight of 24th September, 1910, referred to this as the fifth of a series of experimental models. The two unidentfied aircraft may be additional unknown ASL models or variations of the first two monoplanes.

Project References
  1. British Aircraft 1809-1914, Peter Lewis (Putnam, 1962)
  2. British Aircraft Before The Great War, Michael H. Goodall and Albert E. Tagg (Schiffer Publishing Ltd., 2001)
  3. Aeroplanes of the Royal Flying Corps, The, J.M. Bruce (Putnam, 1982)
  4. The Wight Aircraft, Michael H. Goodall (Gentry Books, 1973)
  5. English Electric Aircraft and their Predecessors, Stephen Ransom and Robert Fairclough (Putnam, 1987)
  6. Aircraft Mar 1911
  7. The Aeroplane 29 Jun 1911
  8. The Aeroplane 06 Jul 1911
  9. The Aeroplane 18 Jan 1912




Production Data

   Total Aeronautical Syndicate Production     24+   

Production References
  1. British Aircraft Before The Great War, Michael H. Goodall and Albert E. Tagg (Schiffer Publishing Ltd., 2001)
  2. Aeroplanes of the Royal Flying Corps, The, J.M. Bruce (Putnam, 1982)

Production Notes
  1. Specific production details are unknown, but in July 1911, four Valkyries were accepted by the Government as a gift from Mr. H. Barber, two to be allotted to the Army and two to the Navy. This comprised two Valkyrie Type A, one with a standard 30 h.p. Green powerplant and one with a more powerful 50 h.p. Green; one Valkyrie Type B 2 seat cross country racer and one Valkyrie Type C.
     
  2. The Aeroplane for 2 May 1912 gives ASL production to be in excess of 24.

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Revised at Version 1.4.0
  • Production details updated

V1.4.4 Created by Roger Moss. Last updated August 2020