The Radley-England Waterplane of 1913 was a four-bay biplane initially powered by three Gnome rotary engines in tandem driving a single large four-bladed propeller. The pilot and passengers were accommodated in the twin hulls. The aircraft made its first flight in 1913.

The Burgess-Gill machine at an early stage of development. It has only the Hall-Scott engine installed and driving a pair of tractor propellers; small triangular fins on the float noses, and a triangular fin projecting forward from beneath the centre of the upper wing. The rear fuselage is covered, and there are no underfins at the tail.

Howard Gill piloting the “Burgess-Gill Twin Engine Aquaplane” at Marblehead, Massachusetts, circa May-June 1912. The aft position of the pilot is well shown here, as are the larger float-mounted fins. By this time the rear fuselage had been uncovered, Gill having decided that the aircraft was more controllable with less side area.

An underside view of the Burgess-Gill aeroplane in flight, showing the long two-stepped floats. The significance of the number “26" under the wingtips of the bottom planes is unknown; as the wings were taken from a conventional Burgess-Wright Model F biplane they were possibly already so marked.

A rear-view close-up of the powerplant installation in the Burgess-Gill, showing the Wright engine driving the pusher propellers and the Hall-Scott driving the tractor propellers via chains. Aeronautics explained that “to drive the propellers in opposite directions and eliminate any centrifugal tendency, one of the chains is crossed”.

The August 1912 issue of Aeronautics included a short article on the Burgess-Gill machine, which included a side elevation of it in landplane form, and a plan view of the forward fuselage and wing centre-section, showing the powerplant installation and cockpit. Interestingly, Gould’s prize money had already been withdrawn by the time it was published.

View of the Queen twin-engined monoplane outside the hangars at the Nassau Boulevard Airfield on Long Island, New York, possibly during the Aero Meet of late September 1911, sponsored by the Aero Club of America (although it does not seem to have been flown at that event). The Queen Aeroplane Co occupied hangar No 14 at this airfield. The rear engine and tailboom arrangement are seen to good effect.

The ungainly twin-engined Queen monoplane under construction in one of the Queen Aeroplane Company’s buildings at the (then defunct) Fort George Amusement Park in Upper Manhattan, New York City, circa mid-1911. The man in the fuselage is facing rearwards.

A three-quarter-rear view of the Queen twin monoplane in the company’s factory shortly after its completion in 1912.

The rather unwieldy undercarriage and front engine installation are the focus of the photograph.

The tail surfaces, comprising a primitive elevator and rudder, may be seen here.

A starboard side view of the Queen monoplane at the former Fort George Amusement Park, showing the somewhat fragile nature of its design and construction, including a cumbersome undercarriage arrangement and the rather inadequate-looking tail booms. Unsurprisingly, it was withdrawn from the Gould Prize competition.