Percy Pilcher was born
in Bath in 1867. He joined the Royal Navy in 1880 but resigned seven
years later to become an apprentice with the shipbuilders, Randolph,
Elder and Company, of Glasgow.
In 1891 Pilcher began
work as assistant lecturer at Glasgow University. He took a growing
interest in aviation and began building a glider called the Bat.
This flew for the first time in 1895. Later that year Pilcher met
Otto Lilienthal, who was the leading expert in gliding in Germany.
These discussions led to Pilcher building two more gliders, the
Beetle and the Gull.
Percy Pilcher and his Bat
glider in 1895
Otto Lilienthal was killed
on 10th August, 1896, while flying one of his gliders in Berlin.
Pilcher now became the favourite to be the first person to build
a powered flying machine.
Pilcher's fourth glider,
the Hawk, was influenced by the ideas of Otto Lilienthal. This glider
had lightweight wheeled landing gear and broad wings. In 1897 Pilcher
broke the world record for flight when his glider covered 820 feet
(250 m). Pilcher now developed a new triplane with a 4 h.p. engine
that drove two propellers.
Percy Pilcher and his Hawk
glider in 1897
On 30th September, 1899,
Percy Pilcher planned to make his first test flight of his new triplane
at Stanford Park in Leicestershire. The weather was bad and Pilcher
was forced to postpone his attempt to become the first man to make
a powered flight. In order to appease the large crowd that had turned
up to see the show, Pilcher decided to take up his glider, the Hawk.
Pilcher reached a height
of nearly 30 feet (9.1 m) when the wire in the tail snapped. Percy
Pilcher crashed to the ground and died two days later. As there
was no one to carry on Pilcher's work his new powered triplane was
never flown.
