Richard Pearse
New Zealand farmer and aviation pioneer (1877-1953) · New Zealand · On the map · Scientists · Died at 75
Richard William Pearse was a New Zealand farmer and inventor who performed pioneering aviation experiments. Witnesses interviewed many years afterwards describe observing Pearse flying and landing a powered heavier-than-air machine on 31 March 1903, nine months before the Wright brothers flew.
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Figure 1, An Improved Aerial or Flying Machine, Complete Specification, New Zealand Patent no. 21476. Inventor: R W Pearse
Richard Pearse's 25 hp (18.64 kW) water-cooled four-cylinder aero engine on display at MOTAT
Pearse's spark plug, 1909![A representation of Pearse's early monoplane originally built for the 1977 New Zealand International Trade Fair, Auckland,[65] on display at South Canterbury Museum, Timaru](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/ee/Pearse_aeroplane_replica%2C_South_Canterbury_Museum-2.jpg/1280px-Pearse_aeroplane_replica%2C_South_Canterbury_Museum-2.jpg?utm_source=en.wikipedia.org&utm_campaign=parser&utm_content=thumbnail)
A representation of Pearse's early monoplane originally built for the 1977 New Zealand International Trade Fair, Auckland,[65] on display at South Canterbury Museum, Timaru
Pearse's tilt-rotor convertiplane as displayed at MOTAT in 2010
A representation of Pearse's early monoplane at the South Canterbury Museum
Richard Pearse Memorial, Waitohi, South Canterbury (.mw-parser-output .geo-default,.mw-parser-output .geo-dms,.mw-parser-output .geo-dec{display:inline}.mw-parser-output .geo-nondefault,.mw-parser-output .geo-multi-punct,.mw-parser-output .geo-inline-hidden{display:none}.mw-parser-output .longitude,.mw-parser-output .latitude{white-space:nowrap}44°12′29″S 171°07′23″E / 44.20807°S 171.12303°E / -44.20807; 171.12303)About this person
Ambiguous statements made by Pearse himself make it difficult to date the aviation experiments with certainty. In a newspaper interview in 1909, with respect to inventing a flying machine, he said "I did not attempt anything practical with the idea until 1904".
