b'biplane. Flying immediately became a passion. crowd at Dover, he was complimented on his momentous feat. The plane behaved well, he said, I just He taught himself to fly, firstly in a glider and then in asat in it.Wright Brothers biplane, assembled by the Short brothers, ballooning friends, who were destined to build many famousLess than six weeks later he was dead, the first British victim planes, including the Empire and Sunderland flying boats. of an aeroplane crash. His plane broke up in mid-air at a flying display at Bournemouth and thousands saw the young Within a month of learning to fly, Charles had won a trophyhero plunge to his death.for being the first Briton to fly a distance of half a mile. Charles and his two brothers all died without children, so Early in 1910 the first pilots licences were issued and hethe estate passed to the Harding side of the family.received licence number two. In June of that year he became a national hero when he made the first non-stop return flight across the Channel, in a time of 90 minutes. Arriving back to an enthusiastic welcome from a huge 5'