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Waitohi, New Zealand, 31 March, 1903, Richard Pearse

http://www.ctie.monash.edu.au/hargrave/pearse1.htm l
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Pearse
http://www.salon.com/tech/feature/2002/08/22/richa rd_pearse/
http://www.auckland-airport.co.nz/NewsHistory/avia tors.php?pearse

While he (Richard) himself said that the Wrights flew before him, the little evidence seems to point to the opposite and that Pearse had a more ambitious definition of flight than he achieved. (He is said to have not accepted anything less than a machine that would allow him to fly to town and back as a flying machine, which accounts for his denial).

It's unlikely we'll ever conclusively know, whomever was first though, it was damn close, and considering that Richard lived in a small rural farming community in New Zealand, miles from anywhere, and had to do everything himself, I think he takes the ingenuity prize, he was a true genius, unrecognized until well after his death.

1902 was the year that Pearse began his flight experiments: - His first aircraft was built over a number of years and flight-tested from 1902

The letter you refer to is one in which he said that the Wright Brothers will get the credit for flying first.....

On this page referrence to the two letters is made. But there is a large amount of ambiguity about what he acheived in 1902.

Pearse's definition of 'flight' was far more rigorous than the Wright brothers'.

By that same definition the Wright brothers never 'flew' in 1903. They never got out of ground effect, and never for more than few seconds. People have long argued that Pearse's definition of flight is more complete than the Wrights' and so when he said that he never flew in 1902 - he meant it.... but by the same definition the Wrights didn't either.

So if flying in ground effect counts as first flight - Pearse's hops and short flights perhaps count too - from 1902.

When people look at the Wright flyer - it looks archaic..... but at the same time Pearse's aircraft was more sophistocated... his first aircraft was a remarkable invention embodying several far-sighted concepts: a monoplane configuration, wing flaps and rear elevator, tricycle undercarriage with steerable nosewheel, and a propeller with variable-pitch blades driven by a unique double-acting horizontally opposed petrol engine.

At the same time that the Wright Brother's were 'flying' in an oversized box kite Pearse was flying a machine that bears a remarkable similarity to modern day ultra-lights.

Whether or not the Wrights or Pearse flew first there is another who was flying around the same time Gustave Whitehead

"In the early morning hours of 14 August 1901, near Bridgeport, Connecticut, a small graceful monoplane took to the air with its inventor and builder, Gustave Whitehead at the controls,carrying him for half a mile before landing undamaged."

So probably the only thing you can claim about the Wright brothers is that they were masters of publicity well before their time.

1902 was the year that Pearse began his flight experiments: - His first aircraft was built over a number of years and flight-tested from 1902

On this page referrence to two letters is made. And there is a large amount of ambiguity about what he acheived in 1902. The letters reveal that he said that the Wright Brothers will get the credit for flying first..... but whether they did or not is another matter. It's a all in the definition.

Pearse's definition of 'flight' was far more rigorous than the Wright brothers'.

By that same definition the Wright brothers never 'flew' in 1903. They never got out of ground effect, and never for more than few seconds. People have long argued that Pearse's definition of flight is more complete than the Wrights' and so when he said that he never flew in 1902 - he meant it.... but by the same definition the Wrights didn't either.

So if flying in ground effect counts as first flight - Pearse's hops and short flights perhaps count too - from 1902.

When people look at the Wright flyer - it looks archaic..... but at the same time Pearse's aircraft was more sophistocated... his first aircraft was a remarkable invention embodying several far-sighted concepts: a monoplane configuration, wing flaps and rear elevator, tricycle undercarriage with steerable nosewheel, and a propeller with variable-pitch blades driven by a unique double-acting horizontally opposed petrol engine.

At the same time that the Wright Brother's were 'flying' in an oversized box kite Pearse was flying a machine that bears a remarkable similarity to modern day ultra-lights.

Whether or not the Wrights or Pearse flew first there is another who was flying around the same time Gustave Whitehead

"In the early morning hours of 14 August 1901, near Bridgeport, Connecticut, a small graceful monoplane took to the air with its inventor and builder, Gustave Whitehead at the controls,carrying him for half a mile before landing undamaged."

So probably the only thing you can claim about the Wright brothers is that they were masters of publicity well before their time let's celebrate that!

the auckland airport notice that all has dandy has since been updated. it no longer has the year 100, but year 2000, in the date.

Here's the correct link -- nuke the .html...it's just .htm

http://www.auckland-airport.co.nz/airport_newsflas h.htm

It's another "1 Jan 100" error

www.auckland-airport.co.nz/airpor t_newsflash.html :)