ONE HUNDRED years ago, Wairarapa hosted a significant event in New Zealand's flying history. June 1913 saw the first successful flights of a New Zealand-designed and built aircraft, that of Wellington engineer Percy Fisher.
Although the American Wright brothers had made the first controlled flight in December 1903, it was several years before aviation made much progress. It was in Europe where the Wrights, along with French and British flyers, dramatically pushed the boundaries.
Above all, it was Louis Bleriot's flight across the English Channel in July 1909 which emphatically proved the aeroplane was more than a freakish invention. The form of Bleriot's little monoplane represented the future of flying machines, although for many years the biplane was the predominant type.
New Zealanders, far removed from the centres of embryonic aviation, were quickly inspired to try their own wings. Some aircraft were imported, while other pioneers built their own. However, the same problems besetting other inventors also prevented local success. Faulty understanding of aerodynamics and low-powered engines were common, and any aircraft which actually left the ground came back to earth quickly.
David Percival (Percy) Fisher was one of the pioneers. Initially, he worked with Arthur Schaef of Wellington. Schaef designed and built a monoplane to be powered by an imported English motor. Unfortunately the engine was disappointing, whereupon Fisher rebuilt it, increasing the power considerably. Schaef's aircraft "Vogel" made hops on the beach at Lyall Bay in 1911, but hardly under control.
Meanwhile, Vivian and Leo Walsh, with an imported biplane, made the first proper New Zealand flight in February 1911 at Papakura. It must be remembered that any flight attempt tested not only untried technology but also pilots with little or no experience.
Schaef and Fisher parted in 1911 and worked on separate projects. Percy Fisher was left with the engine from "Vogel" and added it to his design, a monoplane along the lines of Bleriot's successful model.
It was wooden-framed, covered with silk and had detachable wings for ease of transporting. For the time it had a good power-to-weight ratio, with the propeller spinning at 1200 revolutions per minute. By the end of 1912, Fisher's monoplane was ready for testing.
Recognising Wellington's unreliable weather, Fisher brought his aircraft to Wairarapa by rail. First tests were on the flats on the western side of Lake Wairarapa, near Pigeon Bush. Perhaps Percy Fisher did not know the area well, because the south Wairarapa wind did not give him the calm he wanted. Nevertheless, he carried out taxiing trials and familiarised himself with his machine.
There were many minor prangs and repairs. Then more trials at Pigeon Bush in January 1913, more wind and more accidents, before Fisher decided he might not be pilot material. Another Wellingtonian, Reginald White, was keen to take over the cockpit and it was on April 28 that he made "five flights ... of about 200 yards ... made at an elevation of from 20 to 30 feet," according to The Dominion.
Fisher had persuaded a film-maker, Charles Barton, to record the flight attempts at Pigeon Bush and, a few months later, the Wairarapa Daily-Times was advertising that footage of the Fisher Monoplane which could be seen at the Thompson-Payne Picture Theatre.
Although there had been some success at Pigeon Bush, Percy Fisher decided to seek calmer flying conditions near Carterton. The aircraft, with wings removed, was towed by an Austin car to the flats at Hurunui-o-rangi, just west of the Ruamahanga River on the Carterton-Gladstone road.
Here, again recorded by cameraman Barton, Reginald White made seven flights between June 21-23. The monoplane achieved controlled flight, albeit in a straight line, of about 800 metres. No great height was attained during the trials, but flying it certainly was.
Barton combined film from Pigeon Bush and Hurunui-o-rangi into a "short" of three minutes. Carterton photographer Peter Shankland also recorded the event and one of his photos appeared in the Free Lance of June 28, 1913, captioning the flight as "the first locally built machine to fly successfully in New Zealand".
Over the next few years Fisher, with a new pilot, Walter Cederholm, flew his aircraft in Wairarapa, usually from a paddock near Howard Booth's mill. It was also displayed at shows. World War I spurred a huge leap in aviation and Fisher's aircraft was now obsolete. It passed through several hands and eventually disappeared from view.
Percy Fisher continued his engineering career, patenting and manufacturing piston rings. He died in 1941 and his company was later sold to Repco.
Fisher and his monoplane were largely forgotten for many years. Paul Maxim, a great-grandson of Fisher, researched early flying in the Wellington area and in 2003 Wairarapa Archive published his book Taking Flight, launched at the Gladstone Sports Complex, just a stone's throw from the scene of the 1913 flying trials.
Fisher's accomplishment and the flying location at Hurunui-o-rangi are commemorated by the half-size replica of the Fisher Monoplane, masterminded by John Thompson and unveiled in June 2003.
The attractive little aircraft sits on its pole, forever in flight and buffeted by Wairarapa's airstream.