[Frank B]

Yesterday was the anniversary of the Wright Brothers first successful powered flight. While doing some searching, an article about Richard Pearse, another early powered flight experimenter in Australia, turned up. In it was this:

...During filming of a television documentary in the 1970s, crew attached a replica of Pearse's 1902 machine by a rope to a team of horses. When the horses bolted, the machine took to the air and flew, indicating that the design could fly. Unfortunately, this did not get filmed, as the crew had packed away their cameras at the end of the day's shooting. Fate seems to have conspired against any of Pearse's machines achieving recognition...

SOURCE:

[Pat9]

Frank, this is fascinating. I stupidly clicked the wrong thingy, but I meant to say that I liked it. I apologize. I was hoping for a way to amend my click, but haven't found one yet.

[Frank B]

No sweat, I'm hoarding negative points, intentional or otherwise.

There was another horse powered flight, this one intentional, in 1856.

...In 1856, Frenchman Jean-Marie Le Bris made the first flight higher than his point of departure, by having his glider "L'Albatros artificiel" pulled by a horse on a beach. He reportedly achieved a height of 100 meters, over a distance of 200 meters...

SOURCE:

There's a picture of another of Le Bris's flying machines next to the listing. Still, that had to have been a well-broke horse not to have spooked when the glider took to the air behind him.

[Belg]

Shouldn't this be in eventing?

[Frank B]

Shouldn't this be in eventing?

You may be on to something, Belg! Manned gliders, pulled by horses. Neigh! Teams of horses! Look out, Ben Hur!

[Belg]

That is awesome

[Belg]

Flight of the Pheonix II