Did you know that one of the early inventors of a flying machine was a Welshman by the name of William (Bill) Frost? He is also believed to be the first person to fly a powered airplane!

Who Was Bill Frost?

William Frost, better known as Bill Frost, was born in Llanusyllt, Sir Benfro (Saundersfoot, Pembrokeshire) on 28 May 1848. Unlike many inventors of the 19th century, Frost was born into relative poverty and yet maintained his dream of taking to the skies throughout his life.

The early flying machine he designed was called the Frost Airship Glider, a kind of vertical takeoff airplane (in that it would both takeoff and land vertically, like a rocket) which would be propelled into the air by two reversible fans revolving horizontally. A rudder at both ends would be used for steering the plane.

Frost believed that the plane would reach speeds of 160km (100 miles) per hour. It was even reported that a relatively successful test flight (24 September 1896) took place, in which Frost got the machine to travel 500 metres before it crashed into a bush. If true, this would have been nearly five times the distance of the Wright Brothers’ first powered flight.

Tragically, Frost – a struggling inventor – never succeeded with his wish to take to the skies and gave up on his invention entirely after being unable to afford the renewal fees for the machine’s patent in 1898. Locally, however, he was remembered by many as arguably the first man to fly. He passed away in March of 1935.

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Niklas George

Niklas is the founder, owner, manager, editor, writer, video creator, voice over artist, and so forth, of Welsh Histories. He is passionate about the preservation of Welsh culture; the rejuvenation of the Welsh language and the promotion of Welsh history. Niklas currently resides in Pune, Maharashtra, with his beloved wife.