There has been world-wide debate in New Zealand for a considerable time on the question of whether or not Richard Pearse, a Temuka farmer, was the first person to achieve the miracle of flight.

A strong body of opinion supports the belief that Pearse achieved aerial flight a short time before the Wright Brothers. A second school of thought holds an equally strong contrary view.

It is known that Pearse carried out extensive experimental work with an aerial contraption near Timaru in the early years of the twentieth century but there is no conclusive proof that he achieved controlled flight prior to the Americans who are credited with the first flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, on 17 December 1903.

Without taking any position in regard to the matter I offer the following comment attributed to Richard Pearse in a letter to the editor of the Dunedin Evening Star on May 10, 1915.

In his letter Pearse opened by making the point that the honour of inventing the aeroplane cannot be assigned wholly to one man because it is the product of many minds. He went on to say: ” After all there is nothing that succeeds like success, and for this reason pre-eminence will undoubtedly be given to the Wright brothers of America, when the history of the aeroplane is written , as they were the first to actually make successful flights with a motor driven aeroplane. At most America can only claim to have originated the aeroplane. The honour of perfecting it and placing it on its present footing belongs to France”.

Pearse then went on to give a lengthy explanation about the technique of wing-warping, the use of the vertical rudder and general balancing of the early heavier-than-air machines. He added that he had developed and patented a balancing system on 19 June 1906 that was similar to that devised and patented by the Wright brothers.

Pearse continued: 'As Wright's patent was not published at the time I took out mine, it cannot be said that I copied, and as the principle has been held to be the same it amounts to this: that it is a case of two persons living on opposite sides of the world arriving at the same conclusion; and, this being so, I can justly claim to having discovered it independently”.

Richard Pearse concluded his letter in the following way :'As an explanation for inflicting a letter of this length on you, I may say that my object is to show that New Zealand brains anticipated the essential features of the aeroplane. If I have claimed anything unduly, I want to know it, as I am open to correction. All my experimenting in aerial navigation was pioneer work, and when a history of the pioneers is being written I hold that I am within my rights in asserting my claims”.

So there it is then. Pearse states fairly clearly that 'The Wright brothers were the first to actually make successful flights with a motor driven aeroplane”.

Does that settle the issue? Probably not. As far as I am aware Richard Pearce never ever claimed to have been the first person to fly; he was a clever, innovative and resourceful New Zealand aviation pioneer who deserves to be recognised for his ground-breaking and wonderful work in aerial navigation. In this connection it is of interest to note that the Weekend Sun recently reported that Classic Fliers in Tauranga has obtained the true- to- life model of Richard Pearse's monoplane that has been in the care of the Auckland Museum of Transport and Technology for many years. It is expected that the model will be on public display at the Classic Flyers museum later this year and will be of tremendous interest to the public of Tauranga.

Bill Conroy

(Note: the usual length of letters should be no more than 200 words. This was supplied as a story idea or letter and has been used in its entirety because it provides information to readers that adds to a story in last week's The Weekend Sun page8 - editor)