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Post by Dave Homewood on Jun 15, 2012 23:13:42 GMT 12
I just found this reference which seems to state an Australian invented the aeroplane! EARLY AEROPLANES. AN AUSTRALIAN INVENTION. LONDON, April 29. During a visit to London, Mr. George A. Taylor, Sydney Town Planning Association, met at Hammersmith Mrs. Gray, a daughter of Hargreaves, an Australian, who has now been recognised as the earliest aeroplane inventor, and she confirmed the statement that her father's historic models of aeroplanes and engines, which were now in the Munich Museum, were refused by the New South Wales Government when offered as a free gift to the State in ir 1909. This revelation clears up a long-standing dispute. paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&cl=search&d=AS19240507.2.44&srpos=11&e=01-12-1920--12-1945--10-AS-11-byDA---0museum+aeroplane--  |
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Post by nuuumannn on Jun 16, 2012 14:22:55 GMT 12
That'll be Lawrence Hargrave, note the spelling, although he was born in England...
Hargrave is credited with inventing the box kite, also he built small rotary radials driven by compressed air, although they weren't big enough to propel a full size aeroplane, of which he did not possess, nor invent, although he made some impressive little models in the late 1800s. As a result, he is credited with inventing the rotary radial too.
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Post by Dave Homewood on Jun 16, 2012 14:30:36 GMT 12
OK, so the article is pretty duff then. Cheers.
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Post by nuuumannn on Jun 16, 2012 14:36:16 GMT 12
Yep.
On another note, Ricky Gervais is on Sesame Street right now!!!
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Post by phil82 on Jun 16, 2012 17:20:21 GMT 12
Of course the Aeroplane is a Skippy invention, along with the Dunny, the Tinny, the Esky, Old sheilas and sheep-shagging swagmen!
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Post by planeimages on Nov 17, 2013 20:59:34 GMT 12
George Augustine Taylor was the first person to fly a heavier-than-air glider in Australia at North Narrabeen on 5th December 1909. He was followed aloft by his wife, Florence, and Edward Hallstrom, who later became Sir Edward of Taronga Park fame. Taylor missed out on becoming the first person in Australia to become airborne in a powered aircraft when Colin Defries lifted from the ground at Victoria Park racecourse on 9th December. Being the sole judge and jury in his capacity as secretary of the Australian Aerial League, Taylor saw fit to decide that Defries' pair of flights did not meet the so-called criteria for man-carrying, powered controlled flight. Sour grapes. Thus it was ultimately left to Harry Houdini to claim the place in history at Diggers Rest on 18th March, 1910.
This is an excerpt from my story on W.E.Hart and his contemporaries which Stewart Wilson published in Aero Australia several years ago.
Speaking of Hart, Belmore Park at Penrith NSW, where he conducted his first flights, is soon to be developed into a housing estate. A stylised sculpture of Hart's Bristol "Boxkite" is standing at the site and its lighting system is scheduled to be officially switched on in December 2013.
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Post by Dave Homewood on Nov 17, 2013 21:27:09 GMT 12
Hi Peter, lonnnnng time no see mate!
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Post by planeimages on Nov 20, 2013 15:42:12 GMT 12
Just browsed past Dave.
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