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organized the South Bend Aero Club which built and flew some gliders. That summer Copland also took some flying instruction from Max Lillie on a Wright Model "B" at Cicero Field, Chicago, then later in the summer he did some flying with Walter Brookins on a Burgess-Wright hydroaeroplane at Water Works Park in Detroit, Michigan. 
    During 1913 Copland became a partner of the Copland-Avery Aero Designers, South Bend, Indiana, making model aircraft and man-carrying gliders. That year he also founded the Copland Wireless Equipment Company, selling amateur radio telegraph equipment. 
In 1914 Copland obtained a Commercial Wireless Operator's license, and between school terms [[strikethrough]] sailed for [[/strikethrough]] was employed by the Marconi Wireless Telegraph Company as a ship-to-shore operator. He remained in this work through 1915-1916 when he served on British ships running the submarine blockade in the waters around the British Isles, In this service he was a survivor when a German torpedo sank the [[strikethrough]] HMS [[/strikethrough]] H.M.S. Sagmore off the Irish Coast, for which he was awarded a medal by the British Government. He then tried to join the Royal Flying Corps but was turned down. 
    Returning to the United States he attempted to enlist in the Navy but was rejected because he was under weight. In August, 1917 Copland joined the Royal Flying Corps at Boston and was sent to Toronto, Canada as a flying cadet, where he received additional flight training. In November he was sent to Taliaferro Field, Fort Worth, Texas, for some aerobatics and aerial gunnery [[strikethrough]] work [[/strikethrough]] instruction, then in December was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the Royal Flying Corps and assigned as a flying instructor there, where he trained British and American students until April, 1918. At that time he was advanced to First Lieutenant and transferred to the Aerial Fighting School at Beamsville, Ontario as instructor. 
    In July Copland was appointed Flight Commander of "B" Flight No. 1, Aerial Fighting Squadron where he instructed until October 1st. Up until that time he had made over 1500 instructional flights with over 800 students without a single accident. In October Copland was sent to Felixtowe, England, where he was assigned to patrol duty with flying boats over the North Sea and along the coast of

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