Despite the fact that Cody's aircraft could now be considered a success, in February 1909 a report by the Aerial Navigation Sub-Committee of the Committee for Imperial Defence had recommended that all government-funded heavier-than air experimentation should stop, leaving development to the private sector. Funding was to be provided for the construction of airships; official support for anything else was limited to toleration of aviation activities on some government land. If Cody wished to develop the aircraft further he would have to do so at his own expense and not as an employee of the Balloon Factory. Cody's contract, due for renewal that September, was not renewed, but he was allowed to keep the aircraft, now officially surplus to requirements, and to continue to use Laffan's Plain for flight testing. The Army were left with only a set of drawings of the Army Aeroplane No. 1 labelled "Top secret", possibly the earliest full set of technical drawings for an aircraft.