Bass-Paterson

Ernest Charles Bass was born about 1876. A wealthy young man who was related to the Bass brewing family and to Waterlows the printers, early in the 1900’s he went to America to find adventure; a spell as an amateur bullfighter in Mexico was followed by service with the Texas Rangers, in which he rose to the rank of Captain, a title he used for the rest of his life. The advent of flying in the United States soon attracted him and he made the acquaintance of several of the pioneer flyers, including Glenn Curtiss, with whom he became very friendly.

Returning to England, Bass saw the expansion of flying activity in England had mainly taken place on land; the limited amount of flying from water had been with float seaplanes, flying boats being almost unknown. On January 3, 1913, Bass again sailed for the USA, there taking his hydroplane certificate (No. 9) on a Curtiss flying-boat on Lake Keuka. He also contacted Curtiss, persuading him to bring some of his latest boats to England for a demonstration, and in September Curtiss embarked on a tour of Europe, visiting England early in October. Before returning to the U.S.A. later in the month, Curtiss arranged for the British rights in his machine to be taken over by Bass, in association with ex-Royal Navy Lieutenant J.C. Porte, later to be responsible for the development of the Felixstowe boats. He initially ran the Curtiss concession from the Royal Albion Hotel, Brighton, but later moved to a more suitable location c/o Hamble River, Luke & Co., Hamble, Hants.

Bass disposed of the rights to manufacture the Curtiss boats to the White & Thompson Company, who already held the U.K. repair concession, on February 1st 1914, but retained an interest in White & Thompson and its successor, the Norman Thompson Flight Company. He then flew his own Curtiss machine, modified by White & Thompson the previous November with a new control system, to the South of France for an extended holiday. However, an accident near Antibes in early March damaged the boat and Bass returned to England. There, Bass's machine was then further modified by White & Thompson into the Bass-Curtiss Airboat, featuring wings of new section and an Anzani powerplant replacing the original Curtiss.

For the Daily Mail 1914 Seaplane Circuit of Britain Race, scheduled to be held between 1 and 15 August, S.E. Saunders built the White & Thompson No.2 single-engined flying boat as entry No.6, intended to be flown by Bass, but the outbreak of war saw the cancellation of the event. Meanwhile, Bass had also formed a partnership with Cecil Compton Paterson, who had designed and flown his own machines from 1910, and towards the end of 1914 the partners had arranged for S.E. Saunders to build a small flying boat. This was known as the Bass-Paterson Bat-Boat but, although known to be nearly completed in December 1914, it was not flown as it caught fire during the final stages of preparation in the hangar. When pushed out on to the road to prevent a major conflagration, it burnt itself out, leaving only the metal fittings, the engine and all the copper stitching of the Consuta hull.

On the 23 October 1915, Bass once again left for America. There he conceived of an aerial camera capable of taking 750 shots without reloading which he had developed by Herbert and Huesgen of New York. There on March 18th 1918 he married Xenia Greville Moore, daughter of the Baroness de Montanu, and the couple eventually returned to the U.K., but by then Bass was no longer involved in aviation.

After a long illness, Ernest Charles Bass died in Kent in November 1939.