The Man and the Myth – Robert Smith-Barry as ‘The Man Who Taught the World to Fly’

Today, the Smith-Barry Academy is a training facility within the Central Flying School of the Royal Air Force (RAF). Based in the Trenchard Building at RAF Cranwell, the academy is responsible for researching new training methodologies. That Marshal of the RAF Sir Hugh Trenchard (later Lord Trenchard) and Robert Smith-Barry’s names are enshrined together within the same institution today has a certain irony. Though both men are intrinsic to the history of pilot training, their relationship, as will be shown, eventually reaches a breaking point. This article will investigate how Smith-Barry’s reputation in the RAF was created, examine his First World War experience and opine on the extent to which his prestige is deserved.