99 years ago today....

[Capt Vegemite]

Look what you started Wilbur and Ollie.

[18-Wheeler]

Incorrect.
See this thread here - http://www.pprune.org/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=75571
The centenary of powerered flight was earlier this year.

* Fixed

[OpsNormal]

18Wheeler, sorry cobber, but the link you provided was an advert banner.

As far as I am aware Veg has it right? :confused: One year to go till the re-enactment at Kittyhawk.....?

[18-Wheeler]

Nope, Kiwi Richard Pearse, on 31-5-1902. He flew about 350 yards on that date. In June 1903 he flew about 1,000 yards, including two turns and mostly out of ground effect.

[Capt Vegemite]

With all due respects 18 wheeler after having seen the remains of Pearses machine years ago in the TAT museum in Auckland, I can only say if that bloody thing flew I'll bend for the troops in the Smith Street Mall

[18-Wheeler]

Better grease yourself up then .... :D

[Capt Vegemite]

Pearse the version I like... (http://www.nzemb.org/famous/pearse.htm)

[OpsNormal]

Cranky Dick, Bamboo Dick....... Sounds like he was known for something else...... :eek:

18W, I don't disagree with you..... I guess it's a bit hard to go back in history to accurately map out who did what and when.

[tony draper]

Orville and Wibur definatly had the best PR, the Wright Flyer was displayed in the british museum for years because, they refused to allow the Smithsonian the machine to display unless they removed all reference to other aviation pioneers from the display literature.
Discovery showed a documentry a while back which they claimed would clear up once and for all the first flight controversy, but of course it did no such thing.
I think they agreed that Pearse did fly but there was very little sworn verification only hearsay, also another chap, White I think was named.
Personelly I think great uncle Mad Bartholemew Drapers aerial submarine deserves a mention also, although he is mostly known for the ejector seat saddle he fitted to his famous carnivorous horse, Grey Bastard, which led to his untimely demise, his last resting place is in salwell cemetary not far from me, although it is rumored that the coffin contained nothing but horsesh!t and his glasseye.

[Capt Vegemite]

There are good reasons for Draper givin'up going down to the local boozer.:(

[18-Wheeler]

Actually, Tony, I reckon the Wright Brother's photo of them flying is a fake - They obviously photoshopped it using a modified Babbage Differential Engine computer they knocked up in the back yard ...


FWIW, there was a documentary made on Pearse in NZ years ago, and they attempted to repoduce his known efforts of towing the flyer behind a couple of horses to get it airborne. When they were filming, the horses got scared and bolted, then the flyer took off and sat quite stably behind them off the ground, until the horses slowed down.

[ugly]

Don't forget Gustave Whitehead. Its claimed that he might have flown a powered aircraft on August 14, 1901, near Bridgeport, Connecticut.

Checkout this website on him
http://www.deepsky.com/~firstflight/

Why do we still recognise the Wright Bros as the founders of flight? The answer might be in the contract they entered into with the Smithsonian

Paragraph 2 (d) of the Agreement reads: "Neither the Smithsonian Institution or its successors, nor any museum or other agency, bureau or facilities administered for the United States of America by the Smithsonian Institution or its successors shall publish or permit to be displayed a statement or label in connection with or in respect of any aircraft model or design of earlier date than the Wright Aeroplane of 1903, claiming in effect that such aircraft was capable of carrying a man
under its own power in controlled flight." Failure to observe this condition by the Smithsonian would result in a return of the "Flyer" to the vendors, according to paragraph 4 of the contract.

More stuff on pre-Wright flight

http://chrisbrady.itgo.com/pearse/pearse.htm
http://airsports.fai.org/jun98/jun9805.html