Richard Pearse - He claimed in Nov. 1909 in front of a journalist, who saw his plane and published an article, that he had flown one week before. No credible witness has ever seen Pearse flying.
Gustav Whitehead - There are many articles about him, at least one of them, published on Apr. 1, 1902, shows pictures with a plane having two propellers. Whitehead made some incredible claims regarding the characteristics of the engines (extremely light and powerful) he had used and the length and durations of his first flights made with two planes in 1901 and 1902. No credible witness has ever seen Whitehead flying a powered plane.
Wright Brothers - They claimed spectacular flights in 1903, 1904 and 1905. However, they refused to be witnessed by credible people or to publish pictures or drawings of their planes till Aug. 8, 1908. After that date they have been seen flying and established many records.
Hiram Maxim - All four rear wheels of his huge plane left the rails where they rolled, during a test in 1894. Maxim himself was not sure 100% whether there had been an interval of time when all the for main wheels of his machine had been in the air simultaneously. His flight also does not have official witnesses.
Clement Ader - His plane was seen in 1897 by two officials, from the War Department, repeatedly leaving the ground with one wheel.
Last edited by simplex1; 11th Jun 2014 at 23:22.