Griffith Brewer

Griffith Brewer (1867–1948)^[1] was a pioneer English balloonist and aviator, who made his first balloon flight in 1891. Brewer met Wilbur Wright in Pau, France in 1908 and was the first Englishman to fly as a passenger with Wright.^[1] He became a very close friend and supporter of the Wright brothers, and made 30 trips to the United States to visit them, earning his pilot licence in 1914.

Brewer arranged that the British government should get use of the Wright's patents for £15,000 in 1914 which meant that British aircraft manufacturers were free of the threat of litigation.^[2]

Brewer was President of the Royal Aeronautical Society (RAeS) from 1940 to 1942.^[3]

Notes

1. Penrose 1967, p.575
2. "Back to the Beginning" Flight 28 October 1948 p507
3. http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1941/1941%20-%201596.html

References

• Penrose, Harald British Avition: The Pioneer Years. London, Putnam, 1967.
• Brewer, Griffith (September 3, 1910). "With the Wrights in America". Flight: 706–708. Retrieved 20 May 2013.

External link

• "Comfort and Confidence on Liberators" a 1941 Flight article by Brewer on his transatlantic flight