RICHARD PEARSE

The Pearse 'flying' replica was exhibited at Shuttleworth, UK - 2004

The Pearse 'flying' replica was also exhibited at Flambards, UK - 2004. Here there is a permanent display devoted to Pearse's achievements.

The Timaru Museum in South Canterbury NZ is interested in acquiring and exhibiting as many Pearse exhibits as possible. This is near Waitohi where Pearse made his historic 'flight(s)' possibly as early as 1902/1903.

Google Videos

"The Riddle of Richard Pearse" (lowres) / "The Riddle of Richard Pearse" (hires)
(this is the film mentioned below one during which the horse which was towing the replica plane across a field suddenly bolted and the plane took off - but despite all the cameras around no-one managed to get a recording of it in the air!!)

Yet this farmer's son, growing up and living far removed from the rest of the world, dedicated his lifetime's energies to inventing things mechanical including the designing and building of a suitable combustion engine and three aircraft, in the first of which he would make a number of short pioneering flights.

Yet he was compelled to work mostly in secret in order to avoid those who opposed him on religious grounds, and others who claimed that he was a lunatic in his attempts to build a flying machine.

His achievements were even more remarkable in that, unlike the Wright Brothers who employed skilled engineers and who later enjoyed the luxury of American Government sponsorship, Pearse designed, financed, and built everything himself. And he did not even have access to a university or library, but gained his knowledge solely through reading the magazines that he subscribed to.

The years 1902/1903 date his achieving the world's very first mechanically powered flight(s). Dating suggest a first flight on 31st March, 1902 - the day before April fools day. Corroborated eyewitness accounts from school children at the time and in their 70/80s when interviewed, together with other somewhat conclusive evidence from the local school records, confirm that at least one of his powered flights took place on 31'st March 1903. And there were numerous other trials taking place both before and after that. His most active flying year was obviously 1903. The dates are mentioned in Geoff Rodliffe's publications below.

Usually Pearse taxied and 'flew' his aircraft using his own or a neighbour's paddock. However if the paddocks were wet this made such use impossible, and Pearse would use the road running past the school and his farm.

Other evidence points to him flying in the winter of 1903 - specifically on the 10'th of July, 1903, just a few months before the Wrights' first flight. (Note: the seasons are reversed in the Southern Hemisphere). Apparently the plane 'landed' on top of one of the many 12ft. high, mainly uncut, box-thorn or gorse hedges surrounding the paddocks in the neighbourhood. He then left it there because of a heavy fall of snow. Meteorological records for that time show that snow fell on the 11'th of July 1903, but that there was no snow during any of the years immediately before or after that date.

In his later trials he used a small hillock to take off from and flew over a 30ft. high river terrace to 'land' on the mostly dried up river bed below - see photo. From eye-witness reports, the lengths of his flights have been estimated to have varied between 50ft. and a quarter of a mile.

However it was some fifty years later that investigators were alerted to Pearse's flying activities by the discovery of a roughly constructed 'utility' aeroplane, his third, which never flew but which contained remarkably innovative features, which was found hidden in his work shed after he had died.

Subsequent searches of the area then discovered some remains of his earlier aircraft which had been thrown onto a rubbish dump in the mostly dried up river bed where he had last landed almost fifty years before.

These included engine cylinders, a cast iron piston, and a propeller.

Here is the late George Bolt with items recovered by him.

Then in the mid-1970s, a replica of his 1902/3 aircraft with its unique engine was constructed and exhibited at MOTAT, and then went on tour throughout New Zealand - see photo at top of page.

It was also exhibited at the Vancouver Expo. '86 - see photo on right. To get it to Canada, it was dismantled and carried in the cargo hold of a Boeing 747!!

In 1974 the NZBC was involved in the making of a documentary film entitled "Richard Pearse." Whilst this turned out to be rather less than the hoped for historic record, it did serve to bring Pearse's achievements to the attention of the N.Z. populace at large.

For one scene a shaft-horse was supposed tow Pearse's first aircraft into a position for a simulated take-off using the replica. Unfortunately however the animal stamped heavily on the foot of the actor leading it and then galloped off across the paddock, fortunately straight into a 10 mph wind. Whilst everyone watched in horror the replica took off quite normally and rose as far as the towrope would allow. It then stalled and nose-dived into the ground. The stability was remarkable and it lifted off with no tendency to roll. Luckily its bamboo frame was resilient and little actual damage was done. During this episode, which was watched by a number of spectators including four professional cameramen and five or six amateurs holding movie cameras, no-one had the presence of mind to pull the trigger; thus the most spectacular event of that day went unrecorded!!

The various engines were equally numerous: relics of the 1900 two cylinder engine exist, a  later more advanced four cylinder engine, an undiscovered multi-cylinder engine supposedly used at Milton, an engine for agricultural purposes, and a motor cycle engine which he used on the roads. And finally the very complex powerful engine fitted to the helicopter machine.

There were a number of pioneering features of the first known aircraft which are in use in modern aircraft even today. Pearse's advanced design used a tricycle landing gear, which would only come into general use thirty years later. And his aircraft really resembles the microlights which would only be introduced almost seventy years later.

In particular, other early aviation pioneers such as the Wrights used primitive wing warping, or 'side tipping' as Pearse described it, to attempt to control an aircraft in flight. However Pearse introduced a flap system in place of the usual aileron which would avoid twisting the wing. This closely resembles the method of control now generally used in high speed aircraft.

And unlike the Wrights, Pearse wisely decided to eliminate the need for an engine with a flywheel. He did this by having a propeller firmly bolted onto the crankshaft, thus saving considerable weight. Arriving at the correct design for the propeller was in itself a monumental task. However the choice of direct drive was obviously justified: from 1906 onwards this method came into general use.

PUBLICATIONS:

OTHER PEARSE LINKS:

Ultralight Fly-in:

Simulation:

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Other Web Sites:

The Smithsonian Conspiracy:

Other Early Aviation Pioneers: