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Talk:Henry Biard/GA1

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Latest comment: 10 months ago by Mertbiol in topic GA Review

GA Review

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Latest comment: 10 months ago49 comments2 people in discussion
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Reviewer: Mertbiol (talk · contribs) 18:03, 16 January 2024 (UTC)Reply

This is a fascinating and very well-written article about an intriguing man! I have made a few comments about the text below - mostly very minor. I have a few queries about some of the references, but no major problems that I can see. Mertbiol (talk) 18:03, 16 January 2024 (UTC)Reply

Matters UC thinks are resolved
  • The final sentence of the second paragraph (starting "He joined and resigned from the Royal Flying Corps...") is long (52 words) - I suggest splitting it in two.
  • First paragraph, first sentence: The London Gazette (Reference [4]) spells Biard's first name as "Henri" and uses a capital "L" in the "de La Faye".
    • Good spot; changed (this is certainly his birth name).
  • Second paragraph, first sentence: Reference [5] (Barrie Bertram) does not appear to support the dates "1907 and 1908" for Biard's attendance at Victoria College.
  • Third paragraph: I found the description of Biard's first flight at Hendon a little confusing. Would it be better to rephrase "took off and flew the aircraft for two miles, crossing the aerodrome, picking up a mechanic and returning safely" to "took off, flew the aircraft across the aerodrome, picked up a mechanic and returned safely - a distance of two miles"?
  • First paragraph, second and third sentences (starting "He was the most experienced of six pilots..." and "The race was ultimately declared void"): These two sentences are both long (117 words in total) and a little tricky to read. In particular, it's not entirely clear if all six pilots flew the Sea Lion I in the 1919 Schneider Trophy, or if this was just Basil Deacon Hobbs. I suggest rephrasing and possibly moving the information about F. J. Bailey and Basil Deacon Hobbs to a footnote. It might also be worth splitting the third sentence (about the race being declared void) at the "but".
  • Second paragraph, first sentence - "replacing the steam-powered ships who normally sailed" - please replace "who" with "that".
  • Second paragraph, first sentence - "had struck in solidarity with the railway workers" - perhaps better phrased as "whose crews had struck in solidarity with the railway workers."
  • Second paragraph, final sentence - I think reference [28] (Andrews & Morgan 1981) should be for pages 33 and 34 (Biard's search for Bailey is on p. 33).
  • Third paragraph, second sentence - ("Biard's reports on the performance of Mitchell's designs were an important influence on the development of several.") - missing word after "several".
  • Final paragraph, final sentence - The London Gazette [19] says that Biard was a "2nd Lt" not a "lieutenant".
  • Please change the capital "V" for a lower case "v" in the subsection title.
  • Second paragraph, final sentence - Please remove "fascist government" - reference [39] (Eves 2001, p. 83) simply says "political pressure", the race took place in Naples on 12 August and Mussolini did not become Prime Minister of Italy until 31 October 1922.
  • Third paragraph, first sentence - ("British participation in the Schneider Trophy in the early 1920s was received no government funding") - please remove the extraneous "was".
  • Third paragraph, third sentence - I am not sure that "The British government refused to offer funding for the entry" is necessary as you have already said this in the first sentence.
  • Fourth paragraph, third sentence - Reference [44] (Andrews & Morgan 1981, p. 61) says that Biard's "airspeed indicator [showed] nearly 150 mph".
  • Fourth paragraph, fourth sentence - please link Naples.
  • Fifth paragraph, end of second sentence - please remove "Italian" from "aiming to create a false sense of security in his Italian rivals" - you've already made it clear that the Italians were the rivals!
  • Fifth paragraph, final sentence - it might be worth linking "propellor" to propeller and "delaminate" to lamination.
  • It might be worth switching the order of the seventh and eighth paragraphs, so that Pelgram's description of Biard's autobiography as a "a work of pure fiction" precedes the assertion that "the three Italian pilots had worked together to require [Biard] to gain height in order to overtake them".
  • First paragraph, third sentence - I suggest deleting "to the aircraft" from "Mitchell made aerodynamic improvements to the aircraft"
  • First paragraph, fifth sentence - I think reference [60] (Andrews & Morgan 1981, p. 95) should be to page 65 (not 95).
  • First paragraph, first sentence: I suggest removing "flying out" from "with a course flying out over Chesapeake Bay" to reduce the number of occurrences of fly/flight/flying in this paragraph.
  • First paragraph, second sentence: "...and whose first flight Biard had carried out on 24 August" reads a little awkwardly. Perhaps a rephrase - or even just replacing "carried out" with "piloted"? (Would "maiden flight" work better than "first flight"?)
  • First paragraph, third sentence: I suggest adding "had" to "since the French aviator Maurice Prévost had won the Gordon Bennett Trophy".
  • First paragraph, fourth sentence (starting "According to the historian Constance Babington Smith...") very long - 62 words - I suggest splitting in two.
  • First paragraph, fourth sentence: The exact quote from reference [95] (Andrews & Morgan 1981, p. 96) is "set a new standard in marine aircraft".
  • First paragraph, seventh sentence: It's been a while since you last mentioned "Bailey", so it might be worth saying "F.J. Bailey" again.
  • First paragraph, eighth sentence: Please link "Newcastle" to Newcastle upon Tyne.
  • Third paragraph, second sentence: I think reference [104] (Andrews & Morgan 1981, p. 113) should be to p. 313 (not p. 113).
  • Final paragraph, first sentence: Please change "which" to "that", as you are defining the subset of Vickers aircraft that Biard continued to test.
  • The references to Glancey (2020) ([2], [45], [46], [52], [59], [62], [68], [72], [75], [76], [82] and [85]) require page numbers. I have this book and I can look the pages up for you, if you need me to - just let me know.
    • I don't have the pages for Glancy and a few others; as you'll see in the source code, I used the Google preview of the ebook, which isn't paginated. Page numbers aren't strictly required by WP:CITE, but if you can track them down, I'd be very grateful. UndercoverClassicist T·C 07:39, 17 January 2024 (UTC)Reply
  • I am wondering if there should be earlier mention of the race location in the subsection "Schneider Trophy 1923: Cowes". At the moment, The Solent is not mentioned until the third paragraph and Cowes is only mentioned in the heading. Since Cowes and The Solent are probably less well known internationally than Naples and Baltimore, I'd suggest adding "at Cowes, England" or "at Cowes, Isle of Wight" or "over The Solent" or similar at the end of the first sentence of the first paragraph.

Lead section

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Early life (1892–1919)

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  • First paragraph, second sentence: Reference [5] (Barrie Bertram) says that Henry was the "middle son" rather than the "second of three" (he could have been the third of five or even fourth of seven!)

1922 Schneider Trophy Victory

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  • It might be worth changing this subsection title to "Schneider Trophy 1922: Naples" to match the next two subsection titles (or changing the next two subsection titles to match this one!).
    • Fixed the V. I can see the argument, but the fact that he won it is one of the most important facts in his biography, so there's value in the header being able to direct a casual reader to the "right" bit. Equally, adding "1923 defeat" seems a little harsh! UndercoverClassicist T·C 10:25, 17 January 2024 (UTC)Reply

Schneider Trophy 1923: Cowes

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  • First paragraph, third sentence - I suggest rephrasing "moving its outer struts within the structure of the aircraft" to "repositioning its outer struts".
    • Not sure I see this one; precision of language is generally a good thing. I will freely admit to not really understanding all of the engineering stuff here, but it strikes me that at least some of our readers do and will be interested. UndercoverClassicist T·C 10:25, 17 January 2024 (UTC)Reply
  • First paragraph, fourth sentence - Would it be better to say "the modified aircraft" rather than "the new aircraft"?
  • First paragraph, fourth sentence - I suggest changing "50 hp more powerful than that used for the Sea Lion II" to "50 hp more powerful than before/previously" or similar.
  • Second paragraph, third sentence - this sentence is long (88 words). I suggest moving the final part (starting "during navigability trials on 27 September") to a footnote.
    • Have reworked, but kept in the body: there's a case for a footnote, but most people don't read them, and I think it's relevant to the withdrawal of the aircraft that it nearly killed someone, rather than it simply being a bit rubbish at flying. UndercoverClassicist T·C 10:25, 17 January 2024 (UTC)Reply

Other work for Supermarine

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  • First paragraph, first sentence: I suggest replacing "he made the first flight of the Supermarine Southampton" with "he piloted the Supermarine Southampton on its maiden flight".
  • First paragraph, third sentence: Reference [93a] (Andrews & Morgan 1981, p. 91) does not appear to support "leading to the adjustment of its angle of incidence and subsequent total redevelopment".

Sources check

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  • I have checked the following references: [3] (see note above about the spelling of "Henri" and the capitalisation of "La" in "de la Faye"), [4], [5] (see note above about the number of sons of Raymond Biard and dates of Henry's attendance at Victoria College), [7], [14], [15], [17], [19] (see note above about Biard's rank), [24], [25], [26], [28] (see note about page numbers above), [34], [37], [39] (see note above about the start date for fascist rule in Italy), [41], [42], [43], [44] (see note above about the airspeed), [47], [48], [50], [51], [53], [57], [58], [60] (see note about page number above), [63], [64], [66], [67], [74], [81], [93] (see comment above), [94], [95] (see note above about the exact quote), [96], [99], [102], [104] (see note about page number above), [109], [110], [112], [117], [118], [119], [120].

Stopping here for now

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Over to @UndercoverClassicist: Best wishes, Mertbiol (talk) 18:03, 16 January 2024 (UTC)Reply

Thanks for taking this on. I'll probably get to it piecemeal - one reply above so far. Appreciate your time and thoroughness. I understand most of the comments; expect most to be straightforward, but I'll let you know where I could do with a bit more clarification. UndercoverClassicist T·C 07:41, 17 January 2024 (UTC)Reply

One final minor point

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Putting the review on hold

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There are just a few outstanding issues, so I will put the review on hold. Best wishes Mertbiol (talk) 20:20, 17 January 2024 (UTC)Reply

Thanks: any objection if I move the resolved matters to a collapse template, so that I can see more clearly what's left? UndercoverClassicist T·C 21:36, 17 January 2024 (UTC)Reply
Yes, of course, that's fine. Mertbiol (talk) 21:18, 18 January 2024 (UTC)Reply
I think the collapse template is fine. For me, there are only two outstanding issues:
  • Number of brothers
  • Reference [93a] (Andrews & Morgan 1981, p. 91)
Best wishes, Mertbiol (talk) 10:55, 20 January 2024 (UTC)Reply
Yup - checking both of those. UndercoverClassicist T·C 11:22, 20 January 2024 (UTC)Reply
On the brothers: Bertram 2007a is fairly clear that he only had one brother when he was born (Old Victorian (OV) Henry Charles Amedie de la Faye Biard was born on 1st January, 1892 ... His brother, Walter Lucien, was a year younger ...), so I've added that as a multi-cite. I'm working away today but I've got Andrews and Morgan at home; I'll dig it out and check it when I'm back. UndercoverClassicist T·C 11:29, 20 January 2024 (UTC)Reply
Found Andrews and Morgan; I had the wrong page. Now fixed -- I think we should be good to go if you're happy? UndercoverClassicist T·C 10:10, 21 January 2024 (UTC)Reply

Final verdict

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GA review (see here for what the criteria are, and here for what they are not)
  1. It is reasonably well written.
    a (prose, spelling, and grammar):   b (MoS for lead, layout, word choice, fiction, and lists):  
  2. It is factually accurate and verifiable.
    a (reference section):   b (citations to reliable sources):   c (OR):   d (copyvio and plagiarism):  
  3. It is broad in its coverage.
    a (major aspects):   b (focused):  
  4. It follows the neutral point of view policy.
    Fair representation without bias:  
  5. It is stable.
    No edit wars, etc.:  
  6. It is illustrated by images and other media, where possible and appropriate.
    a (images are tagged and non-free content have non-free use rationales):   b (appropriate use with suitable captions):  
  7. Overall:
    Pass/Fail:  


This is a very interesting and informative article. It is very well written and appears to cover all aspects of Henry Biard's life and career in depth. Congratulations to @UndercoverClassicist: for your hard work in bringing this nomination forward. It's been a pleasure to work with you on this review. I have no hesitation in promoting the article to GA status. Well done!

You don't need me to tell you what the next steps would/could be, but I'd certainly encourage you to go for an A-Class review at WikiProject Military history, if that's something you're considering.

Good luck with your other articles and I hope our paths cross again in the future. Best wishes, Mertbiol (talk) 12:15, 21 January 2024 (UTC)Reply

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