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.
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