Buckingham Palace, Nov. 11.

Dear Mrs. Busk - The King has heard with much concern of the tragic death of your son Mr. Busk.
His Majesty well remembers meeting him at the Royal Aircraft Factory on the occasion of their Majesties’ visit to Aldershot last summer, and was much struck by his ability and technical knowledge of the machinery of aeroplanes.
The King also saw him give an exhibition of flying in a stable aeroplane of his own invention.
In offering you his sincere sympathy in your bereavement, the King feels that the country has lost the services of one who by experiment and research, contributed in no small measure to the science of flying.
Yours very truly
CLIVE WIGRAM

Apart from difficulties with armament, the BE's inherent stability proved to be a disadvantage, for it deprived the aircraft of manouevrability so vital in combat. By the end of 1915, the B.E.s were forming an alarmingly large proportion of the 'Fokker Fodder' of the time, but no attempt was made to modify or withdraw the machine, or even suspend production. Attention was dramatically focused on R.F.C casualties by Mr Noel Pemberton-Billing, who, ina bitter speech in the House of Commons on March 21st, 1916, attacked Factory machines in general and the B.E.2C in particular, saying that R.F.C. pilots in France had been "rather murdered than killed."
A judicial committee was set up to investigate these charges,but did not deliver itself of its findings until December 1916. In general, the charges were found to be not proven, and in the meantime the B.E.s plodded on: bombing, observing, and trying to fight, always with considerable losses.

METHOD OF CONTROL
It is believed that in the present instance the rudder is spring-controlled, but that all other movements are due to the inherent stability of the design – which, expressed in other words is this: - A righting couple is formed tending to restore balance when by any means balance is disturbed, and, in addition, to this, if the flight path is disturbed any oscillation which is set up is of the kind which dwindles down to nothing. If an aeroplane is stable laterally it must also be stable directionally, since the two are inextricably linked, but they may be considered separately to some extent. Any loss of lateral balance involves side-slip, and therefore side-slip is utilized to create the restoring couple. Side-slip produces as side wind on the ‘fin’ surfaces of the aeroplane. These are made up of the lateral surfaces of the struts, wires, wheels, the fuselage, the propeller, and in addition there is a fin equivalent obtained from the dihedral angle between the wings. On all these surfaces the side wind acts, and if they are exactly proportioned there is enough top fin to give the righting moment. So far this has been known and practised by aeroplane builders, but it does not give the stable aeroplane, as we may see by carrying the analysis a little farther. When the side-slip begins the whole aeroplane moves sideways relatively to the air consequently the fin forward and the fin aft must be exactly balanced.
If, as has so frequently been the case in the past, the fin near the rudder is too large, the side wind up it tends to throw the stern round, and, in the absence of the pilot’s correcting action on the rudder, the machine ‘nose-dives.’ Conversely, with too small a fin aft, the same trouble arises in a different set of circumstances and produces the same awkward results.
It is precisely in the calculation of the fin aft in relation to the fin forward that the directional stability so closely affects the lateral stability, and this linkage has, it is hoped, been made broadly evident by the above example.
In longitudinal stability the difficulty is quite different. Longitudinally there are oscillations of the aeroplane on its centre of gravity regarded as pivot, and there are oscillations of the whole mass on its path; both classes of oscillation must tend to die out.

FUNCTION OF THE TAIL
A matter of extreme importance in this connexion is the alteration in the lifting force exerted by the wings. Unfortunately, when a dive begins, the centre of lift of the wings tends to move backwards towards their trailing edge, and this obviously aggravates the dive by lifting up the tail and depriving the front edge of the wings of their quantum of lift. To remedy this and to damp out oscillation is the function of the tail. Those machines which depend entirely on the pilot’s sense of balance also depend entirely upon him to check the oscillations by the appropriate movement of the elevator. Many an argument has taken place between those who, to give the pilot greater control, insisted upon the whole of the tail being mobile, and certain authorities who insisted that the damping effect on oscillations of the fixed portion of the was of priceless value to the pilot by giving him time to act. This point of view has to-day obtained far greater force in that the fixed tail plane if appropriately designed can not only damp oscillation but actually introduce the corrective moment necessary.