Duigan Pusher Biplane

The first Australian designed aircraft flew on 16 July 1910, 16 years after the first flight by the Australian inventor Lawrence Hargraves on 12 November 1894.  

In turn, both Duigan, a Victorian farmer, and Hargraves were familiar with the flight properties of hunting and returning boomerangs of the first people.

I have been collecting plans and related material to attempt a scale reconstruction (presently underway, details here).

The image is based on the Lewis replica donated to the Victorian Museum.

I should note that my friend +Chris Sutton has pointed to the efforts of the New Zealand inventor Richard Pearse who may have been the first person to fly a powered heavier than air aircraft.

Peter Quinton
Palerang
January 2015