In 1909 R. B. Haldane, then Secretary of State for War, selected O'Gorman as the person who would bring his vision of order and scientific discipline to the development of military aviation.
As a part of this programme, the Balloon Factory at Farnborough was to be removed from the military and placed under civilian scientific administration.
In October 1909 O'Gorman was appointed as the first civilian Superintendent of the Balloon Factory.
He replaced Col.
John Capper, who retained his command of the Army Balloon School also located there.

When O'Gorman took over the Balloon Factory, official interest was still focussed on lighter-than-air flight.
Some highly secret experiments had been conducted by J. W. Dunne at Blair Atholl, and S. F. Cody had built and flown the British Army Aeroplane No 1, but all funding had been withdrawn from both of these projects in April 1909.
The British Army Airship No.2 was then under construction at the Balloon Factory.

The new system, under which O'Gorman reported directly to the Master-General of the Ordnance at the War Office, was intended to bypass military traditionalists, many of whom failed to see any military value in aircraft of any description.
The purpose of what was to become known as the Royal Aircraft Factory was to be research, carried out in conjunction with the National Physical Laboratory at Teddington. (
The title Royal Aircraft Factory is misleading since it was never the intention to mass produce aircraft; rather, research would be carried out, leading to designs which would be manufactured by private companies.)

O'Gorman devised a system of categorising aircraft according to their layout.
Pusher configuration aircraft with a forward elevator in addition to a rear-mounted tailplane and rudder carried on booms were designated as Farman Type, after the highly successful and widely imitated Farman III.
Canard configuration aircraft became Santos Type, after Alberto Santos Dumont's 14-bis aircraft, and tractor configuration aircraft were designated Blériot Type after Louis Blériot's Type XI, a system set forth in an article entitled Some Problems in Aircraft Design published in Flight in 1911.
Accordingly De Havilland's aircraft was renamed the Farman Experimental I, or F.E.1.

Although the remit of the Factory did not include the actual construction of aircraft, experimental alterations were sanctioned.
Under O'Gorman a system of 'repairing' aircraft by replacing the entire airframe, often changing the basic configuration of the aircraft, was instituted.
 A letter from Theodore Ridge, the Works Superintendent, is worth quoting in full:
 With reference to the Voisin Machine recently presented by the Duke of Westminster and delivered to the Wolsley (sic) Tools and Motor Co., I have to report that the method of controlling and steering this machine is obsolete and different to any present make; that the wood frame of the wings struts and canvas covering have deteriorated to such a degree that they should be replaced if the machine is to be flown in safety.
 I therefore desire to recommend that I may be instructed to fit this machine with certain spare wings and struts which I have in stock and alter the controls so that it is similar to the Farman type, and thus enable the machine to be flown by anyone qualified to fly a Farman type machine.
I am in a position to effect these alterations quickly and economically and it would then be equal to a good Farman machine.

The first aircraft produced under this system was the S.E.1, ostensibly a refurbishment of a Blériot XII.
This was destroyed in a crash before flight testing was complete, killing Ridge.
In the hands of Geoffrey de Havilland the Voisin which had been donated to the Army Air Battalion by the Duke of Westminster was reborn as the B.E.1, a neat biplane with an excellent performance which first took to the air in December 1911.
The B.E.1 was followed by the almost identical B.E.2 and a series of other aircraft, ostensibly improvements of the motley collection of aircraft in the Factory's possession, which in some cases d
In 1909 R. B. Haldane, then Secretary of State for War, selected O'Gorman as the person who would bring his vision of order and scientific discipline to the development of military aviation. As a part of this programme, the Balloon Factory at Farnborough was to be removed from the military and placed under civilian scientific administration. In October 1909 O'Gorman was appointed as the first civilian Superintendent of the Balloon Factory. He replaced Col. John Capper, who retained his command of the Army Balloon School also located there.
When O'Gorman took over the Balloon Factory, official interest was still focussed on lighter-than-air flight. Some highly secret experiments had been conducted by J. W. Dunne at Blair Atholl, and S. F. Cody had built and flown the British Army Aeroplane No 1, but all funding had been withdrawn from both of these projects in April 1909. The British Army Airship No.2 was then under construction at the Balloon Factory.
The new system, under which O'Gorman reported directly to the Master-General of the Ordnance at the War Office, was intended to bypass military traditionalists, many of whom failed to see any military value in aircraft of any description. The purpose of what was to become known as the Royal Aircraft Factory was to be research, carried out in conjunction with the National Physical Laboratory at Teddington. (The title Royal Aircraft Factory is misleading since it was never the intention to mass produce aircraft; rather, research would be carried out, leading to designs which would be manufactured by private companies.)
O'Gorman devised a system of categorising aircraft according to their layout. Pusher configuration aircraft with a forward elevator in addition to a rear-mounted tailplane and rudder carried on booms were designated as Farman Type, after the highly successful and widely imitated Farman III. Canard configuration aircraft became Santos Type, after Alberto Santos Dumont's 14-bis aircraft, and tractor configuration aircraft were designated Blériot Type after Louis Blériot's Type XI, a system set forth in an article entitled Some Problems in Aircraft Design published in Flight in 1911. Accordingly De Havilland's aircraft was renamed the Farman Experimental I, or F.E.1.
Although the remit of the Factory did not include the actual construction of aircraft, experimental alterations were sanctioned. Under O'Gorman a system of 'repairing' aircraft by replacing the entire airframe, often changing the basic configuration of the aircraft, was instituted.  A letter from Theodore Ridge, the Works Superintendent, is worth quoting in full:
 With reference to the Voisin Machine recently presented by the Duke of Westminster and delivered to the Wolsley (sic) Tools and Motor Co., I have to report that the method of controlling and steering this machine is obsolete and different to any present make; that the wood frame of the wings struts and canvas covering have deteriorated to such a degree that they should be replaced if the machine is to be flown in safety.  I therefore desire to recommend that I may be instructed to fit this machine with certain spare wings and struts which I have in stock and alter the controls so that it is similar to the Farman type, and thus enable the machine to be flown by anyone qualified to fly a Farman type machine. I am in a position to effect these alterations quickly and economically and it would then be equal to a good Farman machine.
The first aircraft produced under this system was the S.E.1, ostensibly a refurbishment of a Blériot XII. This was destroyed in a crash before flight testing was complete, killing Ridge. In the hands of Geoffrey de Havilland the Voisin which had been donated to the Army Air Battalion by the Duke of Westminster was reborn as the B.E.1, a neat biplane with an excellent performance which first took to the air in December 1911. The B.E.1 was followed by the almost identical B.E.2 and a series of other aircraft, ostensibly improvements of the motley collection of aircraft in the Factory's possession, which in some cases d
Mervyn O'Gorman