Da Vinci's soggy seabird free as a bird

ANDREW GORRIE/The Dominion Post

ABSOLUTELY AIRBORNE: David Hyams takes off and heads seaward in his bamboo and cloth contraption over Wellington Harbour. Moments later, it crumpled into the harbour, a soggy mess.

Relevant offers

Leonardo da Vinci designed it, a Wellington man built it, and a crowd of hundreds cheered it and for a couple of metres it soared. Then the flying contraption crumpled into the harbour in a soggy mess.

Applause turned to laughter as "pilot" David Hyams followed the advice of the crowd by steering clear of the sun in his bid to fly like Icarus.

Hundreds lined the waterfront yesterday to watch Mr Hyams' attempt to fly a model of one of Leonardo's flying machines above Wellington Harbour.

Being the architect of the experiment, and with some hang-gliding experience to his name, Mr Hyams felt he was the one to take the risk. "If you conceive it, plan it and promote it, you fly it."

The model, built in two weeks out of split moss bamboo and cloth, was based on Leonardo's glider, but Mr Hyams said that, to have a realistic chance of flying, it would need a wingspan of 14 metres, a tail and a harness for the pilot.

The attempt was part of the Birdman Family Flying Fiesta at Frank Kitts Park and a promotion for the Leonardo da Vinci Machines Exhibition at the New Zealand School of Fine Art on Queens Wharf.

More than 60 machines have been built based on the artist's original designs. If organisers can secure sponsorship before the end of the exhibition on February 15, they hope to build more Leonardo machines to fly into the harbour.

- © Fairfax NZ News