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I just thought I should send you all a message to alert you to the fact that a new Pearse reproduction aircraft is being built in New Zealand by Mr Ivan Mudrovcich. You can visit our web site willitflymovie.com and also visit us on facebook and twitter.

When the new Pearse Project was undertaken in 2004, one subject that was hotly debated within our ranks was never to make such claims that Richard Pearse was the first to fly. You would be well aware of the letters that Pearse wrote himself, saying he did not fly in a fashion that resulted in controlled aerial navigated flight as we know it today.

There have been many claims from all over the world as to who was the first to achieve the feat of leaving the ground in a heavier than air aircraft with a mechanically propelled engine. Once again Pearse may have fitted into this category, but all of these early aviators should be admired for their courageous attempts, where some even ended with disastrous results.

But it also would be fair to say, that back in those days when all these courageous men were trying to attempt this feat of becoming airborne, none of them would have believed that their efforts would be interpreted as we do today with the modern definition of controlled powered flight, as they all thought that they were trying to fly.

I guess hindsight and retrospect is a wonderful thing if you need to justify any claim, in this case with Richard Pearse that was well over 108 years ago. But realistically, at the end of the day if Pearse did leave the ground on March 31st 1903, he did exactly what the Wright bros did on December 17th 1903, which was probably nothing more than leaps and bounds in the air, and with Pearse possibly not even in a straight line ending up on a gorse hedge as its been reported by some who said they witnessed that flight.

There have been many claims sadly in the past by some individuals that Pearse was the first to fly, which has fired and fueled lengthy debates on this subject, be they right or wrong.

Our story and documentary with this renewed effort with this Pearse Project, was to see if Richard Pearse had the ability to leave the ground in his self designed aircraft, also powered by an engine that he designed and built himself.

We will leave all those claims that others have made that Pearse flew before the Wright Bros in the past exactly where they belong, and we will allow for people to also interpret these claims as best they see fit.

I might add a very important point here, it has still yet to be proven that Pearse even the ability to become airborne which is Ivan�s current challenge with this renewed approach to this project.
We, working on this project will never make such claims that Pearse flew in a controlled navigated fashion before the Wright Bros. It is however possible that Pearse like the others may have become airborne under their own power without any form of assistance.

The Ivan Mudrovcich story is truly a remarkable in its own right as to what some men will build in their retirement in their backyard sheds, and what our story is about is to see if Richard Pearse had that ability to launch himself into the air in his aircraft.
Ivan�s journey of 7� years of research and hard work to date has yet still to be proven, hence the documentary title WILL IT FLY?
I have followed the progress for over 3 � years of the aircrafts construction and Ivan�s crusty character mixed with his great dry sense of humor has been fantastic to capture, but he is also very talented with his hands on building of the aircraft which makes it an entertaining look at what it takes to do a project like this. Can I also recommend a book by New Zealander Gordon Ogilvy The Riddle of Richard Pearse.

If you could direct your members to our project and website to give support for Ivan please, that also would be fantastic.

Model Planes Forums » Check Out My Site!

The Pearse RP2 Reproduction Build In New Zealand

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