Talk:Percy Pilcher

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"...with his triplane having never been flown."

It is inconceivable that a perfectionist like Pilcher would have dreamed of showing off his revolutionary powered triplane without testing it first

Flight of the Pilcher replica - 2003

The article states that "A replica of Pilcher's aircraft was built, and after some problems, achieved a sustained controlled flight of 1 minute and 26 seconds, significantly longer than the Wright Brothers' first flight."

This is true, but more than a little disingenuous. Concerning the replica, this site states "Flights on the day [in November 2003] lasted about 10secs but the following week this was extended to 1min 25secs." This means that the first flights of the replica were shorter than the Wrights' first flight of 17 Dec 1903. A team of aviators and mechanics with 100 years of knowledge and tradition behind them then took about a week to make a flight that was a bit longer than the Wrights' fourth flight (which lasted 59 seconds, also made on 17 December).

That web page also includes a link to a transcript of the BBC program that presented (and no doubt commissioned) the replica's flight. The transcript makes it clear that the replica included some non-original features such as an augmented control system.

Drawing conclusions from a replica flown long after the time of the original is fraught with peril. In this case, the details of the replica flight make it clear that the statements in the Wiki article are not fully supportable.

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I saw the BBC program and one glaring omission is any information about the engine used in the replica vs the original. The program only states "To power the triplane the team chose a small modern engine." They state that Pilcher's hand made engine was 4hp, but don't give it's weight and do not give the power or weight of the modern engine they used. From the looks of the engine there is no doubt it is lighter than any engine of the period in question, and most likely much more powerful too. 72.73.123.111 (talk) 09:54, 4 August 2009 (UTC)[reply]