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Pilcher Hawk
In 1896 English aviator Percy Sinclair Pilcher designed, built, and flew the Pilcher Hawk, a monoplane glider with birdlike wings.
Percy Sinclair Pilcher
British engineer
Quick Facts
- Born:
- January 1866
- Died:
- Oct. 2, 1899, Leicestershire, Eng. (aged 33)
Percy Sinclair Pilcher (born January 1866—died Oct. 2, 1899, Leicestershire, Eng.) was a British aviation pioneer and glider experimenter. Trained as a naval cadet, Pilcher served for six years as a midshipman before beginning an apprenticeship with a Glasgow shipbuilding firm. In 1893 he found employment as an assistant lecturer to a professor of marine engineering and naval architecture at Glasgow University. By 1895 he was working as a university lecturer and as a draftsman with a local shipyard. In April 1896 he resigned his university post and accepted a job as assistant to Hiram Maxim, the well-known London-based flying ...(100 of 223 words)