The Walsh Brothers Flying Boats were aircraft that were used during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

to provide training to pilots in

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

prior to their enlistment into the

Royal Flying Corps The Royal Flying Corps (RFC) was the air arm of the British Army before and during the First World War until it merged with the Royal Naval Air Service on 1 April 1918 to form the Royal Air Force. During the early part of the war, the RFC sup ...

Walsh brothers

Brothers Leo and Vivian Walsh built a Howard Wright biplane in 1910, named the ''Manurewa'', and first successfully flew it in February 1911 at Glenora Park (modern-day

Takanini Takanini is a southern suburb of Auckland, New Zealand. It is located on the shores of the Pahurehure Inlet, 28 kilometres southeast of the Auckland CBD. The suburb is home to a Fonterra milk plant, the Addison housing development, as well ...

). In August 1911, the aircraft crashed but it was later rebuilt by the brothers and converted into an entirely new aircraft, with a streamlined nacelle positioned between the wings, which had a swept outer bay, while the canard was replaced by a conventional tailplane.

The New Zealand Flying School

During 1914 the Walsh brothers constructed a two-seat flying boat similar to a Curtiss design. The war broke out in August 1914, and the Curtiss-based design was modified with dual controls to become a trainer and first flown on 1 January 1915. By 14 March 1915, the sea planes had begun to fly their first passengers. In mid-1915, the brothers founded the New Zealand Flying School to train men for the

. The first class of three included the fighter ace,

Keith Caldwell Air Commodore Keith Logan "Grid" Caldwell, (16 October 1895 – 28 November 1980) was a New Zealand fighter ace of the Royal Flying Corps in the First World War who also rose to the rank of air commodore in the Royal New Zealand Air Force dur ...

. Classes were always small but, in contrast to overseas training, comprehensive. The school began operating out of a shed in

Ōrākei Ōrākei is a suburb of Auckland city, in the North Island of New Zealand. It is located on a peninsula five kilometres to the east of the city centre, on the shore of the Waitematā Harbour, which lies to the north, and Hobson Bay and Ōr� ...

in October 1915, and by 28 November had moved to Mission Bay. By 1916, the school operated from their permanent location at

Kohimarama Kohimarama is a coastal residential Auckland suburb, located to the east of the city. Kohimarama is situated between Mission Bay and St Heliers and has an accessible beach with a boardwalk and green recreational spaces located amongst reside ...

. The flying school closed in September 1924, after training over 1,000 pilots.

Evolution of the Curtiss design

Due to the difficulties in obtaining suitable training aircraft, the Walsh brothers decided to build their own trainers, initially based on the Curtiss pattern. Over the next four years they produced a series of four flying boat designs, evolved from, but bearing little resemblance to, the original Curtiss model. The last of the Walsh Brothers designs, the Type D of 1919, was an aerodynamically and hydrodynamically advanced machine, with a powerful Beardmore engine.

Sale to NZPAF

The flying school struggled to gain clients after the war, and all assets of the flying school were acquired for the

New Zealand Permanent Air Force The Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF; ) is the aerial service branch of the New Zealand Defence Force. It was formed initially in 1923 as a branch of the New Zealand Army, being known as the New Zealand Permanent Air Force, becoming an ind ...

(NZPAF) in 1924. All Walsh brothers flying boats had been made for the use of the school, not for sale, and were transferred to the NZPAF; however, the NZPAF had a landplane training programme based upon the

Avro 504 The Avro 504 is a single-engine biplane bomber made by the Avro, Avro aircraft company and under licence by others. Production during World War I totalled 8,970 and continued for almost 20 years, making it the most-produced aircraft of any kind ...

K and had no use for the flying boats. The survivors are believed to have been burnt on the Auckland waterfront, however there are "lost treasure" stories that these and some of the other machines used by the flying school are stored on a defence force base at Devonport in tunnels bricked up after the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

References

{{reflist

External links

1966 Encyclopedia entry
* http://uneli.unitec.ac.nz/our_auckland/kohi/flight%20school.htm * http://www.raes.org.nz/index.cfm/NZAT/Vivian_and_Leo_Walsh * http://www.teara.govt.nz/EarthSeaAndSky/SeaAndAirTransport/Aviation/3/en * http://www.dnzb.govt.nz/dnzb/default.asp?Find_Quick.asp?PersonEssay=3W3 * http://www.auckland-airport.co.nz/NewsHistory/aviators.php?walsh New Zealand Flying School Aircraft manufactured in New Zealand 1910s New Zealand aircraft Aviation history of New Zealand