This article is about the aviator. For the photographer, see Percy William Pilcher.
Percy Pilcher
Born
(1867-01-16)16 January 1867
Bath, Somerset, England
Died
2 October 1899(1899-10-02) (aged 32)
Stanford, Northamptonshire
Cause of death
Glider accident
Burial place
Brompton Cemetery, London
Occupation
Inventor
Known for
Aviation pioneer
Percy Pilcher's Hawk glider, restored after his fatal crash, on display in the National Museum of Scotland.
Percy Sinclair Pilcher (16 January 1867 – 2 October 1899) was a British inventor and pioneer aviator who was his country's foremost experimenter in unpowered flight near the end of the nineteenth century.
After corresponding with Otto Lilienthal, Pilcher had considerable success with developing hang gliders. In 1895, he made repeated flights in the Bat, and in 1896–1897 many flights in the Hawk culminated in a world distance record.
By 1899, Pilcher had produced a motor-driven triplane, which he planned to test at Stanford Hall in Leicestershire on September 30, 1899; however, the attempt was delayed by mechanical problems. When he substituted a flight of Hawk, it suffered structural failure in mid-air and he was fatally injured in the resulting crash, with his powered aircraft never having been tested.
Research carried out by Cranfield University in the early 2000s concluded that Pilcher's triplane was more or less workable, and would have been capable of flight with design modifications. This raised the possibility that Pilcher could have been the first to fly a heavier-than-air powered aircraft had he survived.
Percy Sinclair Pilcher (16 January 1867 – 2 October 1899) was a British inventor and pioneer aviator who was his country's foremost experimenter in unpowered...
Percy William Pilcher (5 July 1866 – 3 May 1937), ARCO, was an organist, composer, and a railway photographer, who was one of the first in Britain to...
(1935–2021), British former police officer PercyPilcher (1866–1899), British inventor and aviator Robert Stuart Pilcher (1882–1961), British transport engineer...
grip the "bar" for carrying and flying the hang glider. The A-frame of PercyPilcher and Lilienthal echoes in today's control frame for hang gliders and...
in the British Isles. She co-created and flew in gliders designed by PercyPilcher, her younger brother, in the 1890s and is considered to be the first...
accidents List of firsts in aviation Otto Lilienthal, glider death PercyPilcher, glider crash Daniel J. Maloney, glider death George E. M. Kelly, first...
aviators who made similar flights at that time were Otto Lilienthal, PercyPilcher, and Octave Chanute. Sir Hiram Maxim built a craft that weighed 3.5...
balloon, setting a new world altitude record for human flight. 1895 PercyPilcher makes his first successful flight in a glider named the Bat. Pablo Suarez...
William F. Trimble. 1899: PercyPilcher of Bath, Somerset dies in October, without having a chance to fly his early triplane. Pilcher had built a hang glider...
times, including historical photos, a PercyPilcher model, and a working model of a Kentish oast house. PercyPilcher is often quoted as being the first...
(1848–1896) died from injuries sustained in a crash of his hang glider. PercyPilcher (1867–1899) died after crashing his glider, having been prevented from...
people in particular were active: John J. Montgomery, Otto Lilienthal, PercyPilcher and Octave Chanute. One of the first modern gliders was built by John...
Aug 11, 1896 Otto Lilienthal Oct 2, 1899 PercyPilcher Jul 18, 1905 Daniel J. Maloney Sep 17, 1908 Thomas Selfridge Sep 7, 1909 Eugène Lefebvre Sep 22...
PercyPilcher took a growing interest in aviation and built a glider called The Bat which he flew for the first time in 1895. Later that year Pilcher...
before attempting motor-driven flight. The death of British aeronaut PercyPilcher in another hang gliding crash in October 1899 only reinforced their...
Webb Pilcher, of Harrow, and his wife, Sophia (née Robinson). He was the eldest of five children (four surviving infancy); his younger brother, Percy, would...
Aug 11, 1896 Otto Lilienthal Oct 2, 1899 PercyPilcher Jul 18, 1905 Daniel J. Maloney Sep 17, 1908 Thomas Selfridge Sep 7, 1909 Eugène Lefebvre Sep 22...
Aug 11, 1896 Otto Lilienthal Oct 2, 1899 PercyPilcher Jul 18, 1905 Daniel J. Maloney Sep 17, 1908 Thomas Selfridge Sep 7, 1909 Eugène Lefebvre Sep 22...
commemorates the spot. It was near Eynsford village (at Austin Lodge) that PercyPilcher constructed and successfully flew lightweight gliders. On 30 September...
American New Thought religious leader and writer (d. 1954) January 16 – PercyPilcher, English inventor and pioneer aviator (d. 1899) January 19 – Harry Davenport...
Aug 11, 1896 Otto Lilienthal Oct 2, 1899 PercyPilcher Jul 18, 1905 Daniel J. Maloney Sep 17, 1908 Thomas Selfridge Sep 7, 1909 Eugène Lefebvre Sep 22...
Aug 11, 1896 Otto Lilienthal Oct 2, 1899 PercyPilcher Jul 18, 1905 Daniel J. Maloney Sep 17, 1908 Thomas Selfridge Sep 7, 1909 Eugène Lefebvre Sep 22...
Nungesser Phoebe Omlie Clyde Pangborn John Lankester Parker Ivy May Pearce PercyPilcher Francesco de Pinedo Albert Plesman Paul Poberezny Tom Poberezny Wiley...
Aug 11, 1896 Otto Lilienthal Oct 2, 1899 PercyPilcher Jul 18, 1905 Daniel J. Maloney Sep 17, 1908 Thomas Selfridge Sep 7, 1909 Eugène Lefebvre Sep 22...
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