Pearse
Built in 1912 by inventor Richard Pearse when he was living in Milton, Otago. Pearse attached a spare aero-engine to a conventional bicycle to travel between his farm and the town of Milton. Pearse’s biographer, Gordon Ogilvie, includes memoirs shared by Milton residents of the time describing the sound and sight of the bicycle which was used by Pearse to attend sporting events or collect supplies.
The engine was described by engineer E. Harry as a single cylinder, air-cooled, four stroke petrol engine made from sheet metal, with modifications likely made by Pearse. It was not the first aero-engine Pearse had come across, as records show he had already built at least two of his own aircraft engines while he was experimenting and testing his monoplane – two- and four-cylinder engines described by Pearse in a 1906 patent and the latter by the Temuka Leader in 1909.
Source: collection.motat.nz
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