They say that this proves that Herbert John Pither’s claim that he was the first person in New Zealand to achieve controlled flight in 1910 on a Southland beach was correct. Officially it is recognised that the first controlled flight took part in Auckland after Pither’s claim, because there was no photo taken or documentation (much like Richard Pearse’s March 1903 flight I guess)

I don’t know who ‘they’ are but the flight today of an approximate replica does not ‘prove’ Pither’s claim at all. At best it merely indicates that it is possible that his aeroplane of 1910 did fly/get off the ground.

Richard Pearse of course could never have flown in 1903 as, by his own admission on at least three separate occasions, he had not at that point even commenced construction of his machine.

the plane was constructed exactly from his original drawings

This will be news to Colin Smith and his team! In fact no such drawings are known to have survived.

Errol

Errol