Blériot XI monoplane 'Britannia' diving at the Auckland Exhibition Grounds, 1914

Presumably an acrobatic display. It was being flown by Joseph (Joe) Hammond, who had worked in the Alaskan goldfields and toured with Buffalo Bill’s Wild West show before making his name flying in Australia. Enlisted by the government to fly Britannia, the Fielding-born aviator made its only New Zealand flights in January 1914 at the Auckland Exhibition. After being called up for service with the Royal Flying Corps in WW1, Hammond died in a flying accident in the US in September 1918.