Aviation Pioneer
First of The Few - Richard Pearse
Richard Pearse was one of the very first men to fly in a power driven aeroplane, lifting into the sky on that sunny afternoon, not quite one hundred years ago, when only a few school boys were watching. More than half a century would elapse before the exploits of this retiring man would become known to the world.
Books about Richard Pearse
WINGS OVER WAITOHI, 1993 (2 Editions)
116 pages illustrated. Background and technical information
SOLD OUT
FLIGHT OVER WAITOHI, 1997
32 pages illustrated for school use.
OH FOR THE WINGS OF A MOTH
A novel with historical background from which The Pain and the Passion a successful theater play has been created.
RICHARD PEARSE 2003
Early New Zealand pioneer aviator. Celebrating a century of flight. Fourth printing of earlier edition with additional information, to coincide with the aircraft on display in the UK. Supply information. Refer.
http://thornburypump.myby.co.uk/pearse.html
The Author
Geoff RodliffeGeoffreyRodliffe's interest in aviation dates from his school days before World War II. He joined theRoyal Air Force in 1935 and in due course qualified as a ground engineer. Leaving the RAF after the war, he maintained his association with aircraft, working for Miles Aircraft at Woodley, then servicing aircraft for a Perth, Australia firm and later returning to the U.K. and the De Havilland experimental flight and test departments.
It was during the war years that he first heard of a New Zealander who was reputed to have flown before the Wright brothers. Much later in New Zealand, after noticing a strange conglomeration of an aircraft at Auckland's Museum of Transport and Technology, he started asking questions about Pearse and was no longer able to leave this elusive story incomplete.
Geoff Rodliffe now lives in retirement in Auckland, New Zealand, and is an associate member of the Royal AeronauticalSociety.

Email enquiries to the author and publisher... geoff.rodliffe@clear.net.nz
Additional infomation about Richard Pearse from The Aviation Hall of Fame of The Museum of Transport and Technology of New Zealand (MOTAT) can be found at:
http://chrisbrady.itgo.com/pearse/pearse.htm