Aeroplane magazine – October 19, 1911 – Naval Aviation.
Within the last few days a most significant step has been taken. The four officers mentioned above have been sent by the Admiralty to make a tour of the Continental aerodromes, so as to learn at first-hand what is being done by the leaders of aeroplane fashions. They have been recently to Reims, where they have had the opportunity of witnessing the progress of the great French military trials, in which the latest products of the leading French manufacturers are being tested under most searching conditions prior to the distribution of orders amounting to about £100,000 by the French War Office. It is only to be hoped that the knowledge gained in this tour will enable these officers to persuade the Admiralty, now they have returned, to take up aeroplanes on an adequate scale.