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Bill Frost, inventor born in Saundersfoot, Wales

Bill Frost

Carpenter and inventor of an early powered flying machine

William "Bill" Frost was a carpenter and inventor, born on the 28th of May, 1848, in Saundersfoot, Pembrokeshire, Wales.

Frost designed the 'Frost Airship Glider', a powered flying machine combining wings with gas-filled tanks and horizontal fans, and registered a patent for it in London on the 25th of October, 1894. Local accounts describe a test flight from a field near Saundersfoot on the 24th of September, 1896, in which the machine reportedly travelled around 500 metres before crashing into a bush — seven years before the Wright brothers' flight at Kitty Hawk in 1903.

Whether Frost genuinely achieved powered flight that day has never been proven beyond doubt, as the event was witnessed locally but not formally recorded at the time. He remains a celebrated, if disputed, figure in the early history of aviation. He died in March, 1935.

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Patented a powered flying machine in 1894 and reportedly flew it near Saundersfoot in 1896, years before the Wright brothers.

A poor working man with little formal education, Frost spent years developing his flying machine, which used reversible horizontal fans to gain height before spreading wings tilted by a lever. His patent, number 1894-20431, was registered in London on the 25th of October, 1894. The exact circumstances and success of his reported 1896 flight remain historically disputed, but he is remembered as one of Wales' earliest aviation pioneers.

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Career Highlights

  • Born: 28 May 1848, Saundersfoot, Pembrokeshire, Wales
  • Field: Aviation and mechanical invention
  • Patent: Frost Airship Glider, registered 1894
ℹ️ Bill was born on the 28th of May, 1848, in Saundersfoot, Pembrokeshire, Wales.
ℹ️ Bill died in 1935.

Born in Saundersfoot, Pembrokeshire, Wales

From: Fidhlaer
Frost may or may not have become airborne. If he did, it is noteworthy that his machine depended in part upon a bag filled with hydrogen gas. But he was an inventive and brave airman.
From: greatgreatneph
The Wright brothers claim is the first powered flight, this is a false claim, however, this was not known to them at the time so as a Welshman I forgive them.
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