|
|
Post by Dave Homewood on Feb 15, 2015 19:11:07 GMT 12
Rayo kindly brought this TVNZ show to my attention, it aired last night on TV One and here you can find it for a short time on On Demand. A pretty good show on cycling in New Zealand presented by Radio New Zealand's Simon Morton. But he also goes to Waitohi and looks into the history of Richard Pearse's attempts to fly, and talks with Gordon Ogilvie - and visits a replica of the Pearse Flyer. tvnz.co.nz/along-for-the-ride/s1-ep1-video-6225665 |
|
|
|
Post by errolmartyn on Feb 15, 2015 20:47:38 GMT 12
Rayo kindly brought this TVNZ show to my attention, it aired last night on TV One and here you can find it for a short time on On Demand. A pretty good show on cycling in New Zealand presented by Radio New Zealand's Simon Morton. But he also goes to Waitohi and looks into the history of Richard Pearse's attempts to fly, and talks with Gordon Ogilvie - and visits a replica of the Pearse Flyer. tvnz.co.nz/along-for-the-ride/s1-ep1-video-6225665Just for the record, and at the risk of repeating myself, there is no such thing as a 'replica' of Richard Pearse's first aeroplane for the simple reason that no drawings, photographs, or detailed specifications of it have survived. Errol |
|
|
|
Post by shorty on Feb 15, 2015 21:11:24 GMT 12
Maybe Dave meant an "interpretation" of Pearse's first aircraft?
|
|
|
|
Post by Dave Homewood on Feb 15, 2015 21:57:14 GMT 12
I should have said 'knock off'.  |
|
|
|
Post by rayo on Feb 16, 2015 7:15:39 GMT 12
Can anyone guess why I just passed this on to Dave rather than post it   For the record i agree with Errolmartyns view of the events. |
|
|
|
Post by nuuumannn on Feb 18, 2015 18:03:06 GMT 12
Not if ole whatsischops in the other thread has something to say about it, Errol! |
|
|
|
Post by TS on Sept 14, 2015 16:25:21 GMT 12
Not sure if this has been put on here but might be worth a look??
|
|
|
|
Post by craig on Sept 15, 2015 7:05:55 GMT 12
He (Pearse) deserves credit for that motor alone. Even Errol can't discredit that
|
|
|
|
Post by errolmartyn on Sept 15, 2015 10:15:16 GMT 12
He (Pearse) deserves credit for that motor alone. Even Errol can't discredit that And of course I never have. Errol |
|
|
|
Post by errolmartyn on Apr 13, 2016 11:59:09 GMT 12
NEW ZEALAND TV3’s NEWSHUB ‘STORY’ PROGRAMME PROMOTES RICHARD PEARSE FLEW FIRST MYTH!
The lead in item for TV3’s Newshub ‘Story’ programme at 7.00 last evening (Tue) featured a failed attempt to fly a machine constructed by Ivan Mudrovich. The flight was not attempted as unfortunately Mr Mudrovich apparently suffered a heart attack while preparing the machine and was taken to hospital.
‘Story’, however, obviously failed miserably to do any elementary research or checking before rushing off to record the flight event (or non-event in this case), claiming extraordinarily that the Mudrovich machine was an ‘utterly faithfully replica’ of Waitohi inventor Richard Pearse’s first aeroplane, and that a successful flight would therefore prove that Pearse could have beaten the Wright Brothers into the air in a powered aeroplane.
As is well known, the Wright Brothers made their famous first powered (and controlled and sustained) flights on 17 December 1903. Regardless of whether the Mudrovich machine was an exact replica or not (and it clearly it cannot be as no technical drawings, plans, photographs or detailed specifications have come to light), it was simply impossible for Pearse to have even attempted to make a flight of any sort in 1903. Why? Because as the inventor himself clearly stated in an interview with the Timaru Post on 16 November 1909 he ‘did not attempt anything practical with the idea’ of constructing an aeroplane until 1904. So no aeroplane and therefore no flight in 1903!
In fact it was not until November 1909, six years after the Wrights famous flights, that Pearse actually commenced his own 'flight trials. That same month Sam Carter, a long-serving locomotive engineer and New Zealand railways foreman at Oamaru, called on Pearse and inspected the machine. A report of his visit was published in the Otago Witness of 1 December 1909. In his account he was quite clear that, contrary to the appearance of the Mudrovich machine, Pearse’s aeroplane possessed an ‘oval shaped’ wing with ‘no camber’. Some others who saw Pearse’s machine at close quarters at the time recalled in later life that the wing was ‘egg-shaped’ or circular. Carter also noted that Pearse had already moved his elevator from the rear to the front, whereas the Mudrovich design has it still at the rear.
The final chapter of Volume One of my A Passion for Flight trilogy sets down the true, known facts about Pearse’s first aeroplane and includes, in the inventor’s own words, the lengthy account he gave to the Post reporter. A shame the producers of ‘Story’ didn’t bother to read it first.
Errol
|
|
|
|
Post by komata on Apr 13, 2016 13:27:05 GMT 12
Errol
Re: 'A shame the producers of ‘Story’ didn’t bother to read it first'.
They never would have, even if it was literally dropped on their heads, since why let the (inconvenient) 'facts' get in the way of a good story? The media have always been this way, and, sadly, because it 'sells', will not be changing this 'policy' any time soon.
In the media world (and especially TV) 'sensationalism; is all, and 'truth and facts' are totally irrelevant. In NZ (because of our small size) it this policy is merely more concentrated and obvious...
|
|
|
|
Post by Dave Homewood on Apr 13, 2016 15:20:03 GMT 12
Well you might be surprised to find that one of Story's reporters is a very keen aviation enthusiast, he loves the history of New Zealand's aviation, and he is a member of this forum. He has made several excellent pieces on aviation topics for various TV3 current affairs programmes. I never saw the piece Errol refers to so I don't know if he was involved, but if he had been and if he'd been aware of the real story, I'm sure he'd have at least attempted to get more balance into the piece even if the main subject are "first flight" believers.
|
|
|
|
Post by errolmartyn on Apr 13, 2016 16:05:47 GMT 12
Well you might be surprised to find that one of Story's reporters is a very keen aviation enthusiast, he loves the history of New Zealand's aviation, and he is a member of this forum. He has made several excellent pieces on aviation topics for various TV3 current affairs programmes. I never saw the piece Errol refers to so I don't know if he was involved, but if he had been and if he'd been aware of the real story, I'm sure he'd have at least attempted to get more balance into the piece even if the main subject are "first flight" believers. Dave, So a good chance then that we might see the mythinformation provided by the Story programme corrected? The programme can still be viewed here www.newshub.co.nz/tvshows/story/pearse-flight-re-creation-beset-with-problems-2016041220#axzz45fxtYAvzErrol |
|
