Flying high at Mission Bay

From City Scene, published on 13 January, 2008

Flying high at Mission Bay: A new sculpture at Mission Bay's Selwyn Reserve celebrates the achievements of the Walsh brothers

A new sculpture at Mission Bay's Selwyn Reserve celebrates the achievements of the Walsh brothers, local aviation pioneers. Artist Fred Graham used titanium rods to create the bird sculpture - which has a 6m wingspan and is suspended 6m above the ground - as a tribute to Leo and Vivian Walsh.

The pair, who grew up in Orakei Road, made the first successful powered flight in New Zealand in their homemade plane, the Manurewa (flying bird) in 1911. They later established New Zealand’s first flying school on the foreshore at Mission Bay. Councillor Toni Millar, deputy chairperson of the Arts, Culture and Recreation Committee says, ''Fred Graham's interpretation of the Manurewa embodies the spirit of the Walsh brothers' enterprise, which played such an integral part in the history of Mission Bay.'' The artist was chosen in a 2004 design competition held by the Eastern Bays Community Board.