364 days to go !
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364 days to go !
Today, Tuesday 17th December 2002 is the 99th anniversary of man’s first powered controlled flight.
According to the Smithsonian Institute at 10.53 EST Orville Wright made that now legendary 120’ flight lasting all of twelve seconds. Supporters of Gustave Whitehead in the States and Richard William Pearse in New Zealand look away now.
As we approach 2003, The Centennial Year of Flight, each time we take off in whatever machine we commit aviation, if we’re not too busy, we should tip our cap to the brothers Wright and all the other early pioneers.
It is an amazing thing this world we call flying. A diverse space that satisfies so many needs. Every time I emerge above the clouds I’m again at home in world still many do not know. How many jobs can offer such a rich tapestry of emotions? Where in the 21st century can one find so many people with common purpose?
As the first person in Britain to employ a pilot, my footman who flew the Cayley Glider across Brompton Vale in 1853, I’m well aware of industrial relations problems: he quit immediately thereafter. So it’s sad to see so much uncertainty still looming across many aspects of the industry.
Nevertheless we have much to be proud of. So next time your are in the cruise reflect on how far aviation has come in less than a century, take pleasure in occupying the best seats in the house and this year of all years -Dont do nothing dumb!
Sir George Cayley - The father of Aeronautics
The air is a navigable ocean that laps at everyones door
Mods - 24 hours here pls?
According to the Smithsonian Institute at 10.53 EST Orville Wright made that now legendary 120’ flight lasting all of twelve seconds. Supporters of Gustave Whitehead in the States and Richard William Pearse in New Zealand look away now.
As we approach 2003, The Centennial Year of Flight, each time we take off in whatever machine we commit aviation, if we’re not too busy, we should tip our cap to the brothers Wright and all the other early pioneers.
It is an amazing thing this world we call flying. A diverse space that satisfies so many needs. Every time I emerge above the clouds I’m again at home in world still many do not know. How many jobs can offer such a rich tapestry of emotions? Where in the 21st century can one find so many people with common purpose?
As the first person in Britain to employ a pilot, my footman who flew the Cayley Glider across Brompton Vale in 1853, I’m well aware of industrial relations problems: he quit immediately thereafter. So it’s sad to see so much uncertainty still looming across many aspects of the industry.
Nevertheless we have much to be proud of. So next time your are in the cruise reflect on how far aviation has come in less than a century, take pleasure in occupying the best seats in the house and this year of all years -Dont do nothing dumb!
Sir George Cayley - The father of Aeronautics
The air is a navigable ocean that laps at everyones door
Mods - 24 hours here pls?
Rubbish.
The 100 years of powered flight was earlier this year - 31-3-02.
Richard Pearse flew 350 yards a hundred years ago on that date. About a year later he flew about 1,000 yards, including two turns and mostly out of ground effect. All done months before the Wright Brothers otherwise good effort.
The 100 years of powered flight was earlier this year - 31-3-02.
Richard Pearse flew 350 yards a hundred years ago on that date. About a year later he flew about 1,000 yards, including two turns and mostly out of ground effect. All done months before the Wright Brothers otherwise good effort.
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18-Wheeler,
so where is the documented proof, your suggestions fly in the face of history as this geezer and his flight go largely unrecorded!! Why has this taken 99 years to come out?? Why have you never tried harder to have this fact better known? I've been an aviation historiian for 20 years and have never even heard of him. Why does some tosser always come out of the woodwork at occasions like this to spoil a momentus event and claim the Wright Bros record as his own!!! What else did he do in aviation afterwards? Photo's and more details (if possible) please!!
I for one will be celebrating on the 17th December, next year as 100 years since the first official flight by a man powered aircraft!!!!
so where is the documented proof, your suggestions fly in the face of history as this geezer and his flight go largely unrecorded!! Why has this taken 99 years to come out?? Why have you never tried harder to have this fact better known? I've been an aviation historiian for 20 years and have never even heard of him. Why does some tosser always come out of the woodwork at occasions like this to spoil a momentus event and claim the Wright Bros record as his own!!! What else did he do in aviation afterwards? Photo's and more details (if possible) please!!
I for one will be celebrating on the 17th December, next year as 100 years since the first official flight by a man powered aircraft!!!!
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18 wheeler, actually, Richard Pearse first got airborne on the 31st March 1903 but that still pre-dates the Wright Brothers.
Richard Pearse: "Mad Pearse", "Bamboo Dick", self-taught inventor, prophetic designer, trail blazing aviator and eccentric visionary. On or about 31st March 1903 a reclusive New Zealand farmer Richard Pearse climbed into a self-built monoplane and flew for about 140 metres before crashing into a gorse hedge on his Waitohi property . Even at half the distance Pearse must have felt the liberating but anxious exhilaration of flying. There is uncertainty about whether it met the definitions of sustained flight, but it came eight months before the Wright Brothers entered the record books at Kitty Hawk North Carolina on 17th December 1903.
Colonel Klink, you might like to have a read of Pearse's biography at: http://www.nzedge.com/heroes/pearse.html.
Richard Pearse: "Mad Pearse", "Bamboo Dick", self-taught inventor, prophetic designer, trail blazing aviator and eccentric visionary. On or about 31st March 1903 a reclusive New Zealand farmer Richard Pearse climbed into a self-built monoplane and flew for about 140 metres before crashing into a gorse hedge on his Waitohi property . Even at half the distance Pearse must have felt the liberating but anxious exhilaration of flying. There is uncertainty about whether it met the definitions of sustained flight, but it came eight months before the Wright Brothers entered the record books at Kitty Hawk North Carolina on 17th December 1903.
Colonel Klink, you might like to have a read of Pearse's biography at: http://www.nzedge.com/heroes/pearse.html.
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PODKNOCKER
You are wrong the Wright Brothers did not use a catapult, the launching system consisted of a 60ft track made of pine. The main weight of the aeroplane rested in a small "dolly" or truck which ran along the rail, the Wright Flyer did not have any wheels just sledge-like landing skids.
On the day the wind was about 22-27 mph and although a wire was realeased which had been holding it to the track, the Wright flyer moved along the track for about forty feet under its own power before getting airborne.
Not only the first powered flight but perhaps the first STOL as well with a takeoff of only 40 ft.
You are wrong the Wright Brothers did not use a catapult, the launching system consisted of a 60ft track made of pine. The main weight of the aeroplane rested in a small "dolly" or truck which ran along the rail, the Wright Flyer did not have any wheels just sledge-like landing skids.
On the day the wind was about 22-27 mph and although a wire was realeased which had been holding it to the track, the Wright flyer moved along the track for about forty feet under its own power before getting airborne.
Not only the first powered flight but perhaps the first STOL as well with a takeoff of only 40 ft.
No, Hotdog, it was definitely 1902 - It was researched extensively by Geoffory Rodliffe in NZ and that's the date that was determined.
Klink, fortunately what you think isn't important. Pearse did all that and more. Your ignorance is not my fault.
Klink, fortunately what you think isn't important. Pearse did all that and more. Your ignorance is not my fault.
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FWIW - I'm with Klink here, maybe Pearse did it first but I've never heard of the "Pearse Flyer". For most of the century it's been pretty much accepted from photos, development etc.. that the Wright brothers were first to powered, sustained manned flight.
Of course naff all important ever happens in the Southern Hemisphere so if the denizens there can see the chance to catch some reflected or stolen glory then they go for it.
"Ra Ra Pearse" happy now 18-Wheeler?
Of course naff all important ever happens in the Southern Hemisphere so if the denizens there can see the chance to catch some reflected or stolen glory then they go for it.
"Ra Ra Pearse" happy now 18-Wheeler?
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Amazon man: that dolly used cycle hubs as wheels — so the Flyer sort of had wheels, wouldn't you agree?
The African Dude: who gives a toss about technicalities? Any aviation enthusiast or historian with half a brain, I would have said.
I too grow tired of all the silly stories about people who beat the Wrights to sustained, controlled, powered flight. Use a lax defintion of flight, and any half-arsed pile of garbage with a motor that jumped up over a bump in the ground, fell off a ramp or simply blew away in the wind 'flew'.
The Wrights were not cranky gentleman inventors, they were ENGINEERS of the highest inspiration and ability. Show me some one else who built a wind tunnel, tested aerofoils, measured lift and drag, broke all the world's gliding records, determined how much power was need to sustain flight, designed propellers from first principles and worked out a functional control system — all before his or her 'first flight', and I will drop dead with surprise.
The Wrights did all these things, that is why they are regarded as heroes and so many other 'first flight' claimants are rightly dimissed as fakes, charlatans and dolts...
How can you understand any of this without comprehending the technicalties?
The African Dude: who gives a toss about technicalities? Any aviation enthusiast or historian with half a brain, I would have said.
I too grow tired of all the silly stories about people who beat the Wrights to sustained, controlled, powered flight. Use a lax defintion of flight, and any half-arsed pile of garbage with a motor that jumped up over a bump in the ground, fell off a ramp or simply blew away in the wind 'flew'.
The Wrights were not cranky gentleman inventors, they were ENGINEERS of the highest inspiration and ability. Show me some one else who built a wind tunnel, tested aerofoils, measured lift and drag, broke all the world's gliding records, determined how much power was need to sustain flight, designed propellers from first principles and worked out a functional control system — all before his or her 'first flight', and I will drop dead with surprise.
The Wrights did all these things, that is why they are regarded as heroes and so many other 'first flight' claimants are rightly dimissed as fakes, charlatans and dolts...
How can you understand any of this without comprehending the technicalties?
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Well, I will happily drink to both Mr Pe arse and the Wrights on their respective aniversaries together with anybody else who gives me an excuse to be a pe arse! 
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Calm down calm down!
As usual intemperate language invades an otherwise moderate post designed to mark an internationally historic day.
It is clear that there was a race going on around the turn of the century and the Wrights won.
I have a feeling thatmany people stumbled momentarily into the air around this time - Chanute maybe and others. But the Wrights were able to replicate their feat over and over again. They flew several times on the 17th.
A bit of debate with some passion yes but Gentlemen in good spirit please
Sir George Cayley
The air is anavigable ocean that laps at everyones door
It is clear that there was a race going on around the turn of the century and the Wrights won.
I have a feeling thatmany people stumbled momentarily into the air around this time - Chanute maybe and others. But the Wrights were able to replicate their feat over and over again. They flew several times on the 17th.
A bit of debate with some passion yes but Gentlemen in good spirit please
Sir George Cayley
The air is anavigable ocean that laps at everyones door
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Don't think Chanute stumbled into the air, he did engineering and organizing but was well past the time to be flying the machines. Though he did show up at experimental activities and helped physically he also contracted with people to build flying machines or pieces thereof with very uneven results.
PODNOCKER may have seen pictures from 1904 in Dayton Ohio where the brothers did use a dropping weight to catapult their aircraft. Reason for this was practical, they didn't have the wind over the deck they had at Kitty Hawk and didn't have a runway. Also believe there were some airfoil or powerplant problems initially. There is still and motion picture photography of The Brothers flying an airplane at Dayton doing a closed course, turns about a point, figure eights, etc. It that isn't controlled flight I'll eat it.
PODNOCKER may have seen pictures from 1904 in Dayton Ohio where the brothers did use a dropping weight to catapult their aircraft. Reason for this was practical, they didn't have the wind over the deck they had at Kitty Hawk and didn't have a runway. Also believe there were some airfoil or powerplant problems initially. There is still and motion picture photography of The Brothers flying an airplane at Dayton doing a closed course, turns about a point, figure eights, etc. It that isn't controlled flight I'll eat it.
Big Tudor, how about Pearse's flight on 11-5-1903, where he flew about 1,000 yards, made two turns, and flew for a fair while out of ground effect.
That doesn't sound uncontrolled to me. Sounds pretty much like sustained controlled powered flight.
True enough his first decent flight was nothing special, only about 350 yarsds (not 140 yards, Rodliffe & Bolt got more reliable reports at between 300 - 400 yards, so I split the difference and call it 350 yards) but impressive none the less.
He had no idea that his efforts were significant, so he didn't bother to record anything on film or make any special effort to gather people around to watch. He was only satisfying his only technical curisosity.
That doesn't sound uncontrolled to me. Sounds pretty much like sustained controlled powered flight.
True enough his first decent flight was nothing special, only about 350 yarsds (not 140 yards, Rodliffe & Bolt got more reliable reports at between 300 - 400 yards, so I split the difference and call it 350 yards) but impressive none the less.
He had no idea that his efforts were significant, so he didn't bother to record anything on film or make any special effort to gather people around to watch. He was only satisfying his only technical curisosity.
Last edited by 18-Wheeler; 17th Dec 2002 at 23:21.
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Philip Whiteman, you say
I think his name was Lawrence Heargreaves, and and I think even the Wright brothers biographers acknowledge that he carried out an active correspondence with Ollie and Willie, trading theories and information with them - before Dec 17th, 1903.
Oh, and he hailed from the Southern Hemisphere too - from the 'main island', as many New Zealanders know the big lump pf red dirt to the far west of Auckland.
Barry Jones, in his excellent book 'Sleepers Awake", uses Pearse as the prime example of the crippling Australian 'cultural cringe' - ie, when Pearse did something that had never been done anywhere else in the world before, it was roundly ignored (or debunked) by all and sundry in Aust (and NZ) "because if it hadn't been done overseas already, it mustn't be very important" and "if it had been done overseas, they must be doing it better, so why bother with it here?" (Which was aparently Pearse's attitude when he hard about the Wright Brothers' flight.)
This attitude has pervaded the upper circles of society and government 'Downunda' for decades.
I don't downplay the tremendous feats of the Brothers Wright - but those quick to poh hooh Pearse's exploits would do well to look beyond their blinkered horizons for a moment and accept that maybe there is some basis to the claims made on his behalf.
Show me some one else who built a wind tunnel, tested aerofoils, measured lift and drag, broke all the world's gliding records, determined how much power was need to sustain flight, designed propellers from first principles and worked out a functional control system —
Oh, and he hailed from the Southern Hemisphere too - from the 'main island', as many New Zealanders know the big lump pf red dirt to the far west of Auckland.
Barry Jones, in his excellent book 'Sleepers Awake", uses Pearse as the prime example of the crippling Australian 'cultural cringe' - ie, when Pearse did something that had never been done anywhere else in the world before, it was roundly ignored (or debunked) by all and sundry in Aust (and NZ) "because if it hadn't been done overseas already, it mustn't be very important" and "if it had been done overseas, they must be doing it better, so why bother with it here?" (Which was aparently Pearse's attitude when he hard about the Wright Brothers' flight.)
This attitude has pervaded the upper circles of society and government 'Downunda' for decades.
I don't downplay the tremendous feats of the Brothers Wright - but those quick to poh hooh Pearse's exploits would do well to look beyond their blinkered horizons for a moment and accept that maybe there is some basis to the claims made on his behalf.
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Some further information which appears to have eluded Colonel Klink's research:
"A question often asked is: "Did this man, a farmer's son with no technical training and with severely limited facilities and funds, really succeed where so many others had failed?" The proof can be seen in the advanced design of his engines and aircraft, which had many original features not then found elsewhere; and although many of his ideas were never developed to their full extent nevertheless his engine produced more than adequate power for the purpose of getting his plane airborne. The motor car did not appear in his locality until some years after Pearse had built and run his petrol engine; his design was based on the steam engines and early oil engines in use in the district, supplemented by information gathered from engineering books...
It is probably now impossible to establish without doubt if Pearse flew before the Wright Brothers. However, there is no doubt that Pearse's definition of flying was far more rigorous than that of the Wright Brothers, and that flights he made prior to the Wright's attempts were never classified by himself as, "actually flying". Pearse invented the aileron and variable pitch air-screw many years ahead of others researching control surfaces".
Richard Pearse
A further long discussion is to be found at the following link:-
AvStop Research
For those to whom the name of Richard Pearse is unfamiliar, the following link provides a balanced assessment of his achievements:-
MOTAT
This link provides information from a relative of Richard Pearse:-
First Flight?
And by request of the author:-
The Author
For even more references Copernic <www.copernic.com>
and Google <www.google.com> will provide a multitude, making it that much easier for 'historians' to keep abreast.
On a different note, yesterday was the 67th anniversary of the first flight of possibly THE most important aeroplane yet: the immortal DC-3.
"A question often asked is: "Did this man, a farmer's son with no technical training and with severely limited facilities and funds, really succeed where so many others had failed?" The proof can be seen in the advanced design of his engines and aircraft, which had many original features not then found elsewhere; and although many of his ideas were never developed to their full extent nevertheless his engine produced more than adequate power for the purpose of getting his plane airborne. The motor car did not appear in his locality until some years after Pearse had built and run his petrol engine; his design was based on the steam engines and early oil engines in use in the district, supplemented by information gathered from engineering books...
It is probably now impossible to establish without doubt if Pearse flew before the Wright Brothers. However, there is no doubt that Pearse's definition of flying was far more rigorous than that of the Wright Brothers, and that flights he made prior to the Wright's attempts were never classified by himself as, "actually flying". Pearse invented the aileron and variable pitch air-screw many years ahead of others researching control surfaces".
Richard Pearse
A further long discussion is to be found at the following link:-
AvStop Research
For those to whom the name of Richard Pearse is unfamiliar, the following link provides a balanced assessment of his achievements:-
MOTAT
This link provides information from a relative of Richard Pearse:-
First Flight?
And by request of the author:-
The Author
For even more references Copernic <www.copernic.com>
and Google <www.google.com> will provide a multitude, making it that much easier for 'historians' to keep abreast.
On a different note, yesterday was the 67th anniversary of the first flight of possibly THE most important aeroplane yet: the immortal DC-3.
Last edited by HectorusRex; 18th Dec 2002 at 22:19.
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Whatever the debate, next December will be a great time to celebrate and ponder all that aviation has brought us (yeah I know, bad as well as good). For myself, I'd like to be at Kittyhawk next year. Preferably flying to it (wx permitting).
Does anyone have links for nearest airfield, town, accommodation, etc or is it all booked up already?
Does anyone have links for nearest airfield, town, accommodation, etc or is it all booked up already?
HectorusRex, please add my own page to your list.
http://www.billzilla.org/pearce.htm
http://www.billzilla.org/pearce.htm