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CURIOS C H R I S S Z E K E LY
DESCRIPTION
MAKER / ARTIST
REFERENCE
Five pistons, a valve and a connecting rod, handcast as parts of a motorbike engine, 1950–70
Burt Munro (1899–1978)
Curios-047001/007
Curio: an object of fascination, sometimes unusual, perhaps unexpected. Alongside papers and photographs, paintings and books, the Turnbull has a sprinkling of curios, each with a story to tell. Number one, a spark plug. Following the very first flight across Raukawa Moana Cook Strait on 25 August 1920, the triumphant pilot, Captain Euan Dickson (1892–1980), removed the plug from his Avro biplane
MUP004 History 101 200x250 272pp f_a.indd 130
The pistons were made by Munro for his racing Indian and Velocette motorcycles. They were hand cast using sand from local beaches in a variety of receptacles, including tin cans, and then finished using a file and a lathe.
and presented it to the newly opened Turnbull Library a month later, on 30 September 1920. Dickson, a First World War flying ace, also piloted the first flight to Aoraki Mount Cook in July 1920. A souvenir programme listed the names of the passengers: there were six in total, including the lucky two who flew on the Aoraki leg. Next, some pistons — three of them plus a rod and a valve, all linked to an Indian motorcycle owned by Burt
15/07/21 5:12 PM
