Richard Pearse, New Zealand aviation pioneer. He was a farmer by trade, and had a reputation for making crooked furrows because he would read technical books while he plowed. He worked on powered flight at the same time as the Wright Brothers and actually achieved his first powered take-off before they did. It wouldn’t be fair to call it a success - his plane was built with no tail section, making it difficult to control in the air. The test flight ended by crashing into a thornbush hedge and Pearse received minor injuries.