Pither Monoplane

Herbert John Pither (1871–1934) was a professional cyclist, engine manufacturer and aviation experimenter.

Pither was born in Reigate, Surrey, in 1871. He was the second eldest of 12 children of John and Lydia Pither, who emigrated to Canterbury on the Crusader arriving on 12 October 1875.

As a teenager, in 1889 Pither and three others were convicted and fined for disturbing a public meeting at Greendale. The complainant was T H Adams.

The first recorded race won by Pither was a 50-mile race at Leeston in 1891. Further races followed including a one-mile handicap organised by the Pioneer Cycle Club at Lancaster Park on 1 January 1892. In April that year Pither broke the New Zealand 50-mile road cycling record in a time of 2 hours 59 minutes 30 seconds. The following year he broke the 100-mile record in a time of 6 hours 39 minutes and started competing in the events for the right to represent New Zealand in a race at Sydney in 1894. Pither also held the Australasian record for the 10-mile event in a time of 27 minutes 13 seconds. At that time he was riding for the Pioneer Bicycle Club. In 1895 Pither was the New Zealand and Australian cycling champion having defeated A A Zimmerman in a race at Sydney.

Pither, in the late 1890s invented a submarine and using all his savings took his design to the War Office in London. There, over a period of nine months, he tried unsuccessfully to promote it, but could not gain entry.

After retiring from the Australasian professional racing circuit, Pither, who had been living in Sydney, returned to Christchurch in 1903. There he set up the Standard Cycle Works in Columbo Street as an engineer, making first bicycles, then small engines, before moving to the Southland town of Invercargill about 1906. He is reputed to have driven there in car he made himself. For a time Pither worked for G W Woods and Co, until in 1908 he set up his own business in the former YMCA building in Kelvin Street. His engineering shop repaired automobiles and made small agricultural and boat engines under the brand 'Peerless'. In 1909 Pither was approached by Simon McDonald about constructing an aircraft to his patented design. A suitable shed was leased and construction commenced with a flight planned for early 1910. McDonald was credited with designing the aircraft and both were constructing it.

By June 1910 the plane was completed and Pither announced that he was considering competing in a Sydney to Melbourne air race. Pither flight-tested this craft at the western end of Oreti Beach off Bay Road for a week in mid-winter 1910.Burt Munro used the other end of the beach for his motorbike trials in the 1950s. In September 1910 at Timaru Pither unsuccessfully attempted to fly the machine. No further attempts at flight were reported, possibly because Pither was in financial trouble.

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