Richard Pearse appears to have successfully flown and landed a powered heavier-than-air machine on 31 March 1903, some nine months before the legendary first controlled, powered and sustained heavier-than-air human flight of the Wright Brothers, on December 17, 1903.
<p>The Plaque at the Base of the Monument Reads:
</p><p>Richard William Pearse
1877 - 1953
</p><p>New Zealand's Pioneer Aviator
</p><p>This monument commemorates the first powered flight to be made by a British citizen in a heavier than air machine.
</p>
Most evidence indicates this flight took place on 31st March 1903 and ended by crashing on this site.
<a href="//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Stevenjgarner" title="User:Stevenjgarner">Stevenjgarner</a>
CC BY 2.0
<span class="int-own-work" lang="en">Own work</span>