Preston Watson

Life & Legacy

Preston Albert Watson (17 October 1880 – 30 June 1915) was a Scottish aviation pioneer, who conceived his own original method of controlling an aeroplane in flight. This was his rocking wing method of lateral control, which consisted of a secondary smaller wing mounted above the main wing on an A-frame that could pivot about its longitudinal axis. Watson's method of lateral control was applied by him in three different aeroplanes; the first was built in late 1909, the second in July 1910 and his third in 1913.
On 16 March 1915, Watson gained his Royal Aero Club Certificate No. 1,117 (equivalent of a pilot's licence) with the London and Provincial School at the London Aerodrome, Hendon, having sought a commission with the Royal Naval Air Service with the outbreak of the First World War in 1914. On 30 June 1915 he was killed when the Caudron G.3 aeroplane he was flying disintegrated in flight and crashed in Dunlye Field, a few miles from the Cross-in-Hand Hotel near Heathfield, Sussex. Watson is buried in Dundee's Western Cemetery.
Preston Watson's achievements have been clouded by claims of powered flight before the Wright brothers. This originated from his younger brother James Watson, who brought it to the public's greater attention in an article published in the Manchester Guardian newspaper in December 1953. There was an article in The Scots magazine in October 1953 released by one J.D. Leslie, but it is dismissed owing to inaccuracies. Since then, Preston's name has been associated with this false claim and his actual work in promoting aviation is often overlooked.
This claim has been repeatedly proven to be false, but the myth frequently reappears in Scottish newspaper articles and most recently in a book published in 2014 with the support of the Dundee Museum of Transport titled The Pioneer Flying Achievements of Preston Watson by Alistair W. Blair and Alistair Smith.