11.45am
A flimsy bamboo aircraft was to be wheeled onto a south Canterbury airstrip later today in attempt to prove a New Zealand farmer could have flown before the Wright brothers 100 years ago.
Richard Pearse built his own aircraft and engine from bits and pieces he found on his farm at
Waitohi near Temuka and his supporters believe he was airborne for a distance of about 140m before crashing into a gorse hedge on March 31, 1903.
His short flight was nearly nine months before the Wright brothers got their aircraft airborne at Kitty Hawk in North Carolina and claimed to be the first in the world to fly. They also crashed after 259m in the air.
Today, two groups of Pearse supporters who have both built replicas of Pearse's aircraft were to join forces in an attempt to get one of them airborne and prove Pearse was a genius who had built an aircraft capable of flying. The attempt will be made at Pearse's Waithohi farm which remains in the family.
The replica would use a microlight engine rather than the three-litre, two-cylinder engine Pearse built for his flight 100 years ago.
The two teams, one from Auckland and one from Timaru, have yet to solve an overheating problem with the replica Pearse engine and decided to use a microlight engine to prove Pearse had built an air frame capable of flight.
Don Fleming, a former air force engineer, taxied the aircraft yesterday and said everything was ready for the flight attempt at 3pm today.
One of Pearse's supporters, 89-year-old Geoff Rodliffe, had made it his life's work to see a Pearse replica fly and prove Pearse was a genius and today was very emotional, Mr Fleming said.
"Geoff is absolutely elated. This is his life's work."
One of the country's foremost microlight pilots and instructors, Jack Mehlhopt, 74, will pilot the aircraft for the flight attempt.
Mr Fleming said a replica of Pearse's engine was started every 15 minutes during an air show at the Richard Pearse Airport in Timaru at the weekend. It was run for only a short time to avoid overheating.
"It was such a crowd drawer. It was running beautifully," Mr Fleming said.
Richard Pearse, man of many inventions
