Chūhachi Ninomiya

Chuhachi Ninomiya (1866 to 1936) was a Japanese aviation pioneer, born in Yawatahama in Iyo Province, now Ehime. After his father died when he was twelve he worked at a printing office and a drug store, teaching himself physics and chemistry and making kites. In 1889, as an army conscript, he watched crows glide without flapping and developed the idea of a fixed wing aircraft. In 1891 his rubber-band powered Karasu-gata model, the first model aircraft in Japan, flew about ten metres, and in 1893 he made scale models of a tailless biplane, the Tamamushi-gata. He also designed a flying machine with three engines earlier than the Wright brothers. The Army showed no interest, and he gave up in 1907 or 1908 on learning of the success of manned flight. In 1915 he founded the Hiko Shrine for those killed in aviation accidents, and later became a Shinto priest. A replica of the Tamamushi model flew 50 metres in 1991.