North Island / Auckland / Bean Rock Lighthouse - historic photo
K3748

After importing plans of the British-designed Howard-Wright biplane and building one with his brother Leo, aviator Vivian Walsh made the first controlled powered flight in New Zealand on 5 February 1911.
Powered flights in New Zealand had been attempted before the Walsh brothers, notably by Richard Pearse. However the Walsh brothers would have a more sustained involvement with aviation, including training a number of First World War fighter aces through their own aviation school, the New Zealand Flying School. Formed in 1915, the school flew a fleet of home-built and imported flying boats from Mission Bay on Auckland's Waitemata Harbour.
This photograph from 1915 shows Vivian Walsh piloting one of the School's flying boats over Bean Rock Lighthouse. It was the first flight of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere.
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File information
Album name:	mitko / New Zealand
Rating (2 votes):	(Show details)
Current status (active, not active, museum etc):	Active
Construction details (year of built, shape etc):	1871
Height of the tower, m:	15	Focal plane elevation above sea level, m:	15
Light Description (light sectors, colour of the light, number of flashes etc):	Group flashing, period 8s, 3 flashes, flash 1s, eclipse 1s, 50-70 red, 70-86 white, 86-156 red, 156-164 white, 164-244 red, 244-260 white, 260-284 red, 284-50 no light
Range, nm:	white 14 nm, red 11 nm
Any other comments:	Siren(1) 30s; Photo 1915
Coordinates (in any format):	36 49.9946 S 174 49.8811 E
Displayed:	536 times
Date added:	Jan 02, 2015
Keywords:	Auckland / New Zealand / Pacific ocean / Offshore / Historic
Download Picture:	For registered users only