for heavier-than-air machines. In England experiments with heavier-than-air flight had been made at Army Balloon Factory at Farnborough under Colonel John Capper. In October 1908 Samuel Cody had flown the British Army Aeroplane No.1 for a distance of 424 m (1,390 ft) and J. W. Dunne had made a number of successful gliding experiments, performed in great secrecy at Blair Atholl in Scotland, but in 1909 the British War office had stopped all official funding of heavier-than-air aviation, preferring to spend its money on airships. In an effort to rationalise aeronautical research the Secretary of State for War, Richard Haldane established the Advisory Committee for Aeronautics and appointed Mervyn O'Gorman, an electrical engineer of great managerial skill, as director of the balloon factory: In 1911 the War Office established the Air Battalion, formed of the No. 1 (Airship) Company at Farnborough and the No 2 (Aeroplane) Company at Lark Hill on Salisbury Plain. The first military pilots had to learn to fly at their own expense, many doing so at the Bristol school, established in 1910 at Lark Hill . Two Bristol Boxkites from the school participated in the 1910 army manoeuvres of Salisbury Plain, one of them equipped with a radio transmitter. In late 1910 Francis McClean offered to loan two aircraft to the Admiralty to be used to train naval officers to fly and George Cockburn offered to act as a flight instructor. Four officers were selected for flight training at Eastchurch, reporting for training on 1 March 1911 and gaining their licences (wings) within in six weeks. In October 1911, the Royal Navy purchased the two aircraft and established the Naval Flying School at Eastchurch. In 1912 a contract was given to Vickers to produce the first aircraft specifically designed for aerial combat, the Experimental Fighting Biplane No.1. Previously, Voisin had exhibited an aircraft impractically fitted with a heavy mitrailleuse at the 1911 Paris Aero Salon, and the French had also experimented with fitting machine-guns to existing types. In the United States the Wright Brothers had, after many attempts, managed to attract the serious attention of the Army, and in December 1907 the U.S. Army Signal Corps issued a specification for a military aircraft. Orville Wright made a successful demonstration to the Army on 3 September 1908. On 17 September 1908 a flight was made with Lieutenant Thomas Selfridge on board as an official observer. A few