The Farman pusher biplane used by the Pashley brothers' flying school at Shoreham.

The Pashley brothers’ specially designed racing biplane, with Eric in the front, beside the restaurant at Shoreham in 1914. Described by Flight as “an extremely neat job”, the aircraft was completed on the Sunday before the Brighton Cup race on Saturday July 11, 1914, with the engine fitted less than 72hr before the race was due to start.

With Hall’s Avro 500 in the foreground, aircraft line up for the start of the second heat of the Brighton Cup on July 11. Beyond the Avro is the Pashley racer, Eric Pashley being given a 1min start ahead of Hall, and at the far end is G.J. Lusted’s Henry Farman (2 3/4min head start). Pashley won the heat easily, beating Hall by more than a minute.

The Pashleys’ racing biplane, with its non-lifting tail and distinctive cut-outs on the trailing edges of the upper and lower wing centre sections, was fitted with a 50 h.p. Gnome rotary engine which enabled the carriage of two passengers. Ailerons were fitted to the upper and lower wings, which were of short span and narrow gap.