Kiwi Icon: The flying man

Richard Pearse is best known as the Kiwi who beat the Wright brothers to powered flight. But in fact it was a tiny part of the tortured history of the man who died in obscurity in a mental asylum.
Born on December 3, 1877 to Sarah and Digory Sargent Pearse who was a farmer a few miles from Temuka.
He was the fourth of nine children and was the family dreamer. He played cello in the family orchestra and was a champion tennis player.
After school his dream was to study engineering. It would have meant going to Canterbury College but the family could not afford it.
Instead when he turned 21 he was given a 100 hectare block on the family land. He promptly built a workshop on it, even building his own forge and lathe.
It was here that his inventing started. For all we believe him to be the person who invented and built and then flew the first plane, it was only one invention among a huge number.
His first patented invention, dating from 1902, was an ingenious new style of bicycle, bamboo-framed with a vertical-drive pedal action, rod-and-rack gearing system, back-pedal rim-brakes and integral tyre pumps.
Richard’s dream however was to fly.
He read about advancement with experiments overseas in scientific journals and he seems to have worked on ideas for powered flight from as early as 1899 and built a two cylinder petrol engine. Around it he built a bamboo, tubular steel, wire, canvas monoplane with short wide wings, which is a bit like the design of modern microlights now.
His first attempt that was witnessed was on the road near his farm. He spent about 50 yards in the air before crashing. There are no details of it beyond that and it wasn’t until two of his letters were public - published in 1915 and 1928 that he wrote it was early 1904. He also believed he did not achieve proper flight and did not beat the Wright brothers who flew in December 1903.
But later and with the help of eye witnesses, it is more likely the day he flew was March 1903 rather than 1904.
He kept at it, achieving several other powered take-offs or long hops. In July 1906 he patented his aircraft.
His genius however was barely recognised. He was a failure as a farmer - and most likely frustrated when his attempts did not do better.
He was given several nicknames - such as Mad Pearse - by neighbours who treated him with scepticism
So he moved to South Otago where he farmed near Milton and set out inventing farming equipment.
He was conscripted into the Otago Infantry Regiment in May 1917 and sent overseas in January 1918, but was too ill to see action and he returned to New Zealand in October that year.
In 1921 he moved to Christchurch and built houses and began work on a second plane, applying for a patent in 1943 - it was approved in 1949.
It was well before its time, with tilting engines to allow vertical take-off and landing.
But there was no interest from aviation companies and Pearse became more and more paranoid and was admitted to Sunnyside hospital. He died there on July 29, 1953.
Among his other inventions were a needle threader, power cycle, recording machine, harp, power generator, potato planter, top dresser and musical boxes.
Richard was cremated at Bromley Crematorium Chapel. A memorial rose tree was planted over the ashes; appropriately, it was a "Pearse Rose."​