Even before the famous meeting in 1904, the name Charles Stewart Rolls would have been known to Henry Royce thanks to his exploits at the wheel and reputation as a skilled motor racer. He held the unofficial land speed record in 1903 piloting his 80hp Mors to nearly 83 mph along the course in the Duke of Portland's Clipstone Park.
In his first race in France in 1899 – the Paris to Boulogne – Rolls had finished fourth in the tourist class, driving an 8hp Panhard and Levassor. In 1903 he competed in the fateful Paris to Madrid town-to-town, an event in which thirty-four drivers and spectators were to perish.
Rolls was a pioneer aviator and initially, balloonist, making over 170 balloon ascents. In 1903 he won the Gordon Bennett Gold Medal for the longest single flight time.
In his first race in France in 1899 – the Paris to Boulogne – Rolls had finished fourth in the tourist class, driving an 8hp Panhard and Levassor. In 1903 he competed in the fateful Paris to Madrid town-to-town, an event in which thirty-four drivers and spectators were to perish.
Rolls was a pioneer aviator and initially, balloonist, making over 170 balloon ascents. In 1903 he won the Gordon Bennett Gold Medal for the longest single flight time.
Following the formation of Rolls-Royce, Rolls turned his attention to the Isle of Man Tourist Trophy. After frustration in 1905, Rolls returned in 1906 winning in a Rolls-Royce Light Twenty.
By 1907 Rolls' interest turned increasingly to flying and he tried to persuade Royce to design an aero engine. He became the second Briton to go up in an airplane, and it was piloted by Wilbur Wright!
Their flight on lasted four minutes and twenty seconds.
He bought one of six Wright Flyer aircraft built by Short Brothers under license from the Wright Brothers and from early October 1909 made more than 200 flights.
by 1909 Rolls' interest in the car business he made with Royce in 1904 was waning, and at the end of the year he resigned as Technical managing director and became a non-executive director.
He co-founded the ballooning club that became the Royal Aero Club in 1901, and in March 1910 he was the second person they licensed to fly an aeroplane.
He became the first man to make a non-stop double crossing of the English Channel by plane in June 1910. In July, he died in a plane crash, age 32
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