Country of origin:

New Zealand

Description:

Series of light homebuilt aircraft

Power Plant:

Specifications:

History:

Richard Pearse was one of New Zealands pioneering aviators, designing and building aircraft on his property at Waitohi on the South Island. The first machine is said to have been flown in 1902, pre-dating the first flight by the Wright brothers in 1903.  At least three designs are known to have been built and each employed a different airframe. Replicas of the first and third are on display at the MOTAT Museum in Auckland; and a replica of what is believed to be the second machine is on display in the Pioneer Hall at the Canterbury Museum. Another replica is mounted and displayed near the site of what is believed to be Pearse’s first flight near Waitohi. At this site a plaque states ”Richard William Pearse. New Zealand’s pioneer aviator – This monument commemorates the first powered flight to be made by a British citizen in a heavier-than-air machine. Most evidence indicates this flight took place on 31 March 1903, and ended by crashing on this site.”

Pearse designed his own engine, this being a two-cylinder horizontally-opposed two stroke, the aircraft being launched into the air by the engine powering it along the paddocks of his farm. The machine had a tricycle undercarriage which incorporated a steerable nose wheel. Lateral control was by the use of wingtip spoiler/flaps and pitch control was by a form of elevator mounted at the rear. Pearse worked alone and was viewed by many in the Waitohi area as eccentric. He was known to spend hours alone in his farmhouse workshop, carrying out testing, and some of these trials were said to be as early as 1902.

Pearse went on to design a second machine based on the first but with different controls and a larger four-cylinder engine. Records of this machine were not kept and it was not patented. He then worked on designing and building other types of machines, including a potato planter, an electric dynamo and a pasture top-dressing machine. He was called up during World War I and joined the First New Zealand Expeditionary Force. When he returned he moved to Christchurch and commenced work on a third machine. It was to be capable of vertical as well as horizontal flight. This machine, it is said, would be able to operate as both a conventional aeroplane for forward flight and would move into near-vertical flight for take-off and landing. His development of this utility aeroplane extended throughout World War II and the design was placed before the New Zealand Inventions Board on more than one occasion.

The design of Pearse’s first machine, and the one which is said to have flown, has been open to some conjecture. It disappeared many years ago and no photographs exist. A patent drawing of the machine is said to be able to apply to all of his designs.  Pioneer Aviator and aeronautical engineer, George Bolt, has said letters by Pearse admit that the efforts he made were in 1904 and thus could not be before the Wright Brothers flew at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.  There have been several claimants to the “first flight” around the world but it is accepted that the Wright Brothers efforts were the only ones that led to controlled sustained flight.

The most interesting of the Pearse designs was known as the “convertiplane”, said to be built in 1908, which had an engine and propeller which could be tilted to vector the thrust.  Although it never flew, it was static tested and the wheels rose approximately 30 cm (one foot) above the ground. The machine (known as the Pearse No 3) was built from odds and ends.  The engine could be operated as a four-stroke, or a two-stroke, and had double-acting cylinders with an additional pair of cylinders and pistons in place of the steam-engine crosshead. These additional cylinders could be used to supercharge the engine. The latter was water-cooled. Power output is unknown.  The propeller was a variable pitch “windmill”, and the machine had wing-tip control flaps, a multi-purpose folding tail unit, a ground brake, a sliding door, and could be folded for storage.

In 2001 the South Canterbury Aviation Heritage Centre obtained from MOTAT a replica of one of Richard Pearse’s designs, this machine being powered by a replica of his first engine, which is able to taxi at the museum complex at Timaru Airport.  In 2003 a replica of the 1903 Pearse monoplane was completed and registered ZK-RWP (c/n RWP-1) to mark the centenary of what is said to be Pearse’s first flight. This aircraft, registered to the Museum of Transport & Technology (Inc) of Auckland on 31 March 2003, was to make its first flight at Timaru and was then to be sent overseas to exhibitions in Canada and the United Kingdom.

This was a replica of the first Pearse design and had a replica engine. Three replicas of the engine were built. On the weekend of 29 to 31 March 2003 the Richard Pearse Centenary of Flight Air Pageant & Celebration was held at the Richard Pearse Airport near Timaru. The replica was built by Mr Geoffrey T Rodliffe, who spent two years building the machine. An attempt was made to fly the aircraft by pilot Jack Mehlohpt but flight could not be achieved due to inclement weather. For the flight the machine was powered by a modern Japanese light-aircraft engine with a reduction drive and it was fitted with a laminated wooden, fixed-pitch propeller.

Much has been written about the Pearse era, including many published articles and books entitled The Riddle of Richard Pearse; Flight Over Waiotohi; Oh for the Wings of a Moth etc; and there have been several television documentaries made. Much investigation has gone into whether Pearse in fact flew on 31 March 1903 but the answer is unclear and probably will never be resolved. Certainly Pearse may have achieved a short hop off the ground but, if at all, is not thought to have achieved controlled flight. It seems at least five replicas of Pearse designs have been completed. MOTAT in Auckland has a collection of Pearse memorabilia, including the third aircraft built, parts of the first, and Pearse’s motor cycle.

On 16 March 2012 Mr Ivan Mudrovich of West Auckland registered a microlight aircraft Class I described as a Mudrovich Pearse 1903 replica as ZK-RPT (c/n 002) [RPT – Richard Pearse two] and this aircraft has been noted taxiing and preparing for a first flight at Whenuapai. Reports indicate at some stage it suffered damage to a wing and had to be repaired. In April 2016 it was announced it would attempt a first flight at “a secret location” on the 12th and that it would not be at Whenuapai where some testing had taken place but would be at an airstrip on the north island. Testing commenced on 13 April at Whitianga but the aircraft did not fly due, it is said, to a lack of power. Also, the pilot Mr Mudrovich, suffered a heart problem and had to be airlifted to hospital, so further flying tests were delayed.

However, flight attempts by the end of 2016 had not been successful, mainly due to a lack of power. At that time the aircraft had been dismantled pending attempts to make the engine produce sufficient power for enough time for the aircraft to fly before the engine overheated. The replica is classed as a Class 1 Microlight. Mr Mudrovich and his wife spent many years researching the design and attempting to construct a replica. The debut of the replica took place at the January 2015 Wings Over Wairarapa airshow where it was taxied by pilot Neville Hay but weather conditions prevented any attempt at flight. The aircraft was withdrawn from use in late 2018.