Vintage Wings - Pearse Monoplane - 1903

*** Vintage Wings ***

Pearse Monoplane 1903

Richard Pearse, a New Zealand farmer and inventor, designed and constructed his flying machine in 1902.
Was a tricycle carriage on a steel-tube structure, fitting a bamboo and linen wing on top with the vertical stabilyzer over it and the elevator at the back.
The engine was also a Pearse creation, a two opposite cylinder unit with an unique design. The first flying attempts failed due to insufficient power, but after reaching 15 HP in his engine he could achieve a several hundred meters flight, according to some witness.
The important fact of this achievement (if really happened) is that was made in march 1903, several months before the Wright Brothers flight in Kitty Hawk !
Pearse's work was poorly documented at the time, so the debate remains. Nevertheless, his contribution was very important since his aircraft, unlike the Wright Flyer, had most of the features of the future "standard" airplane: monoplane, engine and propeller at the front in tractor configuration, elevators and rudder at the back, and bank control using ailerons.

*** All aircraft can be seen inworld in my shop ***

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