Edward Wakefield
Captain Edward Wakefield and Oscar Gnosspelius began to explore the feasibility of flight from water in 1908. They decided to make use of Lake Windermere in the Lake District, England’s largest lake. The latter's first attempts to fly attracted large crowds, though the aircraft failed to take off and required a re-design of the floats incorporating features of Borwick’s successful speed-boat hulls. Meanwhile, Wakefield ordered a floatplane similar to the design of the 1910 Fabre Hydravion.
By November 1911, both Gnosspelier and Wakefield had aircraft capable of flight from water and awaited suitable weather conditions. Gnosspelier's flight was short-lived, as the aircraft crashed into the lake. Wakefield’s pilot, however, taking advantage of a light northerly wind, successfully took off and flew at a height of 50 feet to Ferry Nab, where he made a wide turn and returned for a perfect landing on the lake’s surface.
1911 Built the 'Waterbird', the UK's first hydroplane