Charles Rumney Samson

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Air Commodore Charles Rumney Samson CMG, DSO & Bar, AFC (8 July 1883 – 5 February 1931) was a British naval aviation pioneer.

Samson attended Britannia Royal Naval College before becoming a midshipman in the Royal Navy in 1898. He was promoted Sub-Lt in 1902 and Lt on 30 September 1904.

In 1910 he was selected as one of the first four Royal Navy officers to receive pilot training, obtaining his Royal Aero Club certificate the following year. He took part in various early naval aviation experiments, including the development of navigation lights and bomb sights. He was the first British pilot to take off from a ship on 10 January 1912, from HMS Africa which was anchored in the River Medway. On 2 May he became the first pilot to take off from a moving ship, HMS Hibernia in Weymouth Bay.

In 1914 Samson was in command of the Royal Naval Air Station at Eastchurch. He led a flight in the Naval Review at Spithead which was the first time aircraft had appeared in the review. As an effort to increase the popularity of flying in the navy, Samson had his pilots offer rides to anyone who was interested.