A chapter of Kiwi history was created this afternoon after a vintage Fox Moth flew across Cook Strait to mark 100 years since the feat was first achieved.
The daring dash from Christchurch to Upper Hutt a century ago changed aviation in New Zealand forever.
Co-pilot Aaron Patchett saw the 73-year-old plane splutter into life as he replicated Euan Dickson’s famous 1920 flight.
"The aeroplanes they used to fly back then were, by today's standards, fragile kites, really," Mr Patchett said. “The engines were not the most reliable and yeah, he was a brave man."
Chaperoned by a military chopper, the Fox Moth left Christchurch early this morning, where it made stops in Kaikōura and Omaka before cruising over Cook Strait - the exact path taken in 1920.
"Not only were aeroplanes capable of joining the islands, but it was also the first air mail in New Zealand," centennial flight organiser Richard Holdaway said.
Mr Dickson had been an ace World War I pilot, he explained.
“He shot down maybe 20 aeroplanes, so I don't think Cook Strait was going to be all that much of an issue."
Mr Dickson, using an Avro plane, plotted the flight in secret to beat the Walsh brothers.
"The Walsh brothers were sitting at Hutt Park and suddenly, this small aeroplane flew overhead," Mr Holdaway said.
"It paused as it were over Government House, stunted a little bit, threw a loop and a spin, and then went on to Trentham," Mr Dickson said at the time.
“It seemed to cause a certain amount of excitement, judging from the newspapers."
The Fox Moth arrived at Trentham almost to the minute Mr Dickson had landed.
When the flight landed in Cook Strait in 1920, New Zealand was recovering from the First World War and the Spanish flu. It was designed to lift people’s spirits.
"I was thinking that crossing the Cook Strait. Well, here's a guy doing this almost to the minute, 100 years ago - amazing,” co-pilot Paul Hally said.
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