In a small rural community in New Zealand called Waitohi once lived a genius called Richard Pearse who built the first heavier than air machine to fly. His aircraft was the first machine to fly using a petrol motor and he flew it at Waitohi on the 31st March 1903. Locals claim that his maiden flight was before the Wright brothers who invented a flying glider without proper steering controls. The Wright Brothers first powered flight was 17th December 2003 some 9 months after Richard Pearse but the Wright Brothers took all the glory as the first men to fly. Richard Pearse never saw an aeroplane and yet he invented and flew his aircraft 50 years before the invention of the microlight.
2014-09-14