Pigasus, one can convince some of the people, some of the time, but not all the people, all the time. And I respect your right to an opinion......
I would be very interested to see your evidence (or arguement, subjective or not) that either: (a) Pearce failed to achieve powered flight; or (b) the Wright brothers flight pre dated Pearce's flight.
Forgetting 18-wheelers excellent web site, how about the
Cornwell University in the UK which states categorically:
Richard Pearce
Richard Pearce designed, built and flew the world's first airplane before the Wright Brothers at Kittyhawk.
Or Australia's
Monash University which states:
Popular history has it that the Wright Brothers at Kitty Hawk [in the United States] were the first to fly [a heavier-than-air craft], but this is not true! The first flight was by a twenty-five year old New Zealander, Richard Pearse on March 31, 1902. Pearse, (1877 - 1953), is not generally known for this wonderful feat as [until recently?] there has been very little publicity about it. In fact the first formal mention of his achievement was some seven years later in the newspapers of 1909.
Presumably, reputable Universities would not make those statements without first verifying their veracity?
Obviously I wasn't there, but there appears to be significant evidence to support the claim that Pearce's flight pre dated the Wrights. Conversely, you may be correct and Cornwall University, Monash University, 18-wheeler and I may be wrong.
As I mentioned above, one needs to research the terms of the 1944 agreement under which the Wright Flyer was returned from the UK to the USA after the Second World War. It's been some time since I read the article on the agreement, but I seem to recall a condition was that the Smithsonian Institute were to promote the Wrights flight as man's first powered flight.