History:

In 1909 Messrs John Pechugin, a mechanical engineer and draftsman, and Henry Little, a foreman boilermaker, designed and built an aeroplane and are reported to have conducted secret trials of this aircraft on the Basic Reserve in Wellington. Like the Coanda biplane demonstrated at the Paris Salon in 1910, it had a ducted fan but this was not intended to provide any motive power. A Patent for the design was applied for and this provided drawings of the proposed design. It had a “kite-shaped wing plan-form” and two contra-rotating propellers, power being provided by a 3.35-kw (4.5-hp) engine. An unusual feature was a 3.96-m (13ft) long canvas covered wooden fuselage 45.7-cm (18-in) in diameter. A newspaper reporter from The Post saw the aircraft in a dismantled state and it was later described as “Wellington’s first aeroplane.” The aircraft is not known to have flown.

Further information:

Information on this aircraft is currently limited. The Author welcomes any further specifications and/or details to update the site.