👋 Hey friends! In this video, we are featuring the genius of Irishman Harry the 'Mad Mechanic' Ferguson who was the first person in 1909 in Ireland or Britain to build and fly his own airplane and this was BEFORE he went on to change the world with his agricultural and motoring inventions.
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Harry Ferguson (1884 - 1960) was born at Lake House, Growell, near Dromore, County Down into a large farming family. In 1902 he left home, moved to Belfast and went to work in his brother Joe’s bicycle and car repair business.
It was while working with Joe that Harry developed a taste for speed and adventure and to help promote the Ferguson family business, he began motorcycle racing in 1904. Inspired by the exploits of the American Wright brothers, Harry also developed a keen interest in aviation and in 1909 as part of a fact-finding mission he attended air shows at Blackpool and Rheims.
On his return to Ireland and armed with notes and designs Harry compelled his brother Joe to turn the focus of his J.B. Ferguson & Company towards designing and constructing the first Irish heavier-than-air craft to fly.
In the Ferguson & Company Chichester Street workshop in Belfast work began in earnest on the Ferguson monoplane and a 30 ft long fuselage was made from a wooden box construction, tensioned with wire and covered with Irish linen. The 34 ft long wings were constructed in the same way and a 35 hp V8 JAP engine was fitted in the nose.
With the wings detached the plane was towed by car up to Hillsborough County Down for testing.
Harry failed on his first attempt due to propeller trouble and on many subsequent attempts to take to the skies due a combination of learning-as-you-go to fly the plane, engine failure and issues with flight-control surfaces, several crashes, in one of which he was knocked unconscious and bad weather.
Success finally came on December 31st 1909, and the Ferguson monoplane finally lifted off the ground and travelled approximately 0.5 km and Harry Ferguson became the first Irishman to fly and the first native of Ireland or Britain to build and fly his own airplane.
Harry Ferguson was akin to the Magpie bird and it’s love of shiny objects and after building a further seven monoplanes the lustre of flight soon waned and he moved on to other engineering feats including transforming the world of agriculture with his hydraulic three-point linkage, developing the Ferguson TE20 tractor, Ferguson Formula 4WD, the Ferguson R5 estate car and the P99 Formula 1 car. Today the legacy of the Ferguson name lives on in the Massey-Ferguson tractor company.
Crew: 2
Length: 30 ft 0 in (9.14 m)
Wingspan: 34 ft 0 in (10.36 m)
Wing area: 192 sq ft (17.8 m2)
Empty weight: 620 lb (281 kg)
Max take-off weight: 760 lb (345 kg)
Powerplant: 1 × J.A.P. V8 piston engine, air-cooled, 35 hp (26 kW)
In 2016 BBC NI produced ‘The Great Flying Challenge” hosted by Dick Strawbridge where a team of enthusiasts built and flew a recreation of Ferguson’s monoplane, the monoplane is now on display in the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum.
Check out our previous Ireland Made videos on the other fantastic engineering inventions of Harry Ferguson:
1963 Ferguson TE20 fully restored by Donegal father & son | Season 1 - Episode 8 • 1963 Ferguson TE20 ful...
Ferguson P99 first AWD F1 car | Season 1 - Episode 64 • Ferguson P99 first AWD...
In 1965 you could plough a road with a Ferguson | Season 2 - Episode 85 • In 1965 you could plou...
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Sources of information
1. BBC NI The Great Flying Challenge
2. Graces Guides
3. Hops and Flight - a Roll-Call of Early Powered Take-Offs - Smith & Charles
4. Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Aircraft
5. Inselvideo
6. The Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum
7. Ulster Aviation Society
8. www.ferguson-museum.co.uk
9. www.harryfergusonlegacy.com
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