Photos from 100 years of aviation in New Zealand

The Museum of Transport and Technology or MOTAT in Auckland has taken the Walsh brothers' successful flights in 1909 as the starting point for a century of aviation in New Zealand and has published through Penguin this lavish coffee table book of photos of events and aircraft from the last 100 years, compiled from photos in its own library (the Walsh Memorial Library, what else?) and from other aviation photographer contributors. These include old and recent publicity photos from the airlines and these tend to emphasise the terrain that the plane is flying over, as otherwise the aircraft in the air could be taken anywhere. Needless to say, the mountainous areas of the South Island are particularly popular here. The endpapers feature a montage of aviation themed postage stamps over the years, more than one might expect. Most of the book deals with fixed wing aircraft, but helicopters get a chapter too.

With the extra large format, thick satin-matt paper, colour/duotone printing throughout, and the titles embossed in gold on the jacket, it is clearly intended as a coffee table book for the aviation enthusiast to pick up and and admire page by page, 218 of them in all. All monochrome (b/w) photos have been given tints, although some are rather too strong, and several photos have been spread across the gutter with the perennial resulting problem of details being lost in the gutter.

The compiler clearly has not set out to repeat research covered in the other histories of New Zealand aviation - this book is intended as a visual experience.

For those who have the transpress nz 3-DVD set Classic New Zealand Aviation, this book Flight makes a good companion.