Rodney - The "Australian" you refer to was not an aussie but a New Zealander called Richard Pearce (damn aussies have claimed enough kiwis as thier own, although they are welcome to Russell Crowe ). There are various claims that he flew before the Wrights but never sought any sort of publicity and the story of him flying first is based on eye witness accounts that can't be verified. Pearce himself had also been quoted as saying that he did not fly with his aircraft. It was made from bamboo and was a high wing monoplane with a vertical fin. It had alierons as opposed to wing warping that the Wright brothers used. The engine was a horizontal twin cyclinder made from irrigation piping. I am not totally convinced that he did fly before the Wrights but he certainly did build an aeroplane that had features that didn't become common place till some time later. He also tried to build a STOL plane many years later, this had a tilting engine similar to the Osprey.

Cheers
Vaughan