Early Aviation
1910
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12th March: First flight in South Australia at Bolivar, South Australia, in a Bleriot monoplane by Carl William 'Bill' Wittber (40 yards, by chance)
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17th March: First controlled flight in South Australia at Bolivar, South Australia, in a Bleriot monoplane piloted by Fred Custance
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18th March: Erich Weiss, aka Harry Houdini, known as an escapologist, made the first recognized flight in Australia, flying a Voisin biplane at Diggers Rest, Victoria.
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This photo is of a flight at Randwick Racecourse, Sydney, on Saturday 21 February 1914, when Harry Hawker took the Governor General, Lord Denman, for a flight.
Pre World War 1
1914 Harry Hawker in a flying demonstration in his Sopwith 'Tabloid' biplane, in front of "All Albury"
Harry Hawker was born on 22 January 1889 at Moorabbin, Victoria in Australia, the second son of George Hawker, a blacksmith, and Mary Ann Gilliard Anderson.
He attended Moorabbin Primary School. As an 11-year-old, he worked at the Melbourne garage of Hall & Warden, helping to build engines for five shillings a week, moving on to the Tarrant Motor & Engineering Co, helping make Tarrant cars, where he qualified as a mechanic.
In 1907, he moved again to become the chauffeur and mechanic for Ernest De Little in Caramut, Western Victoria.
In 1910 he travelled to Diggers Rest, north-west of Melbourne, to see the first public demonstrations of powered flight made in Australia, and decided to go to England to become involved in aviation, arriving in May 1911.
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AVIATIOR MR. HAWKER'S ACCIDENT. London, Oct. 12.
Mr. Hawker, the Australian aviator, who was injured a few days ago through falling while flying an aeroplane, explains that the accident was due to his own carelessness through turning in the wind with a heavy load (of fuel) while he was too close to the ground.
He strained the muscles of his back through bracing himself for the fall, but after two weeks in hospital, he is gradually recovering.
HAWKER IN ALBURY
All Albury seemed to be present on the racecourse on Saturday, and visitors from all parts of the Riverina wore noticed in the enclosure.
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Special trains conveyed the crowd to the course, and every seat in the grandstand was occupied long before the aerial manoeuvres commenced.
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It was a splendid move having a parade of the cadets on the ground, aa it helped to pass the time waiting and gave people an opportunity of watching Australia's future defenders going through their drill.
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Punctually at 3 p.m. there was a buzz of machinery and a stir of expectation amongst the crowd, and before hardly many present realised it, Hawker and his "Sopwith" biplane were in the air.
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There was a roar of applause from the assembled gathering which, no doubt, fell not on the ears of the skilful and daring aviator.
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Around the course he went, and then came along, hovering and flying at great speed past the grandstand.
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He then rose higher and higher in his wonderful machine, and enthusiasm stirred the hearts of the crowd present as they knew and recognised they were witnessing manoeuvres from a genius in the art of flying, and an Australian at that.
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Harry Hawker is a complete master of the art of landing gracefully, and he indicated that at his first trial flight in Albury on Saturday. Hawker showed his mastery over this section of Aviation.
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FLYING IN BALLARAT. HAWKER IN THE AIR.
At Ballarat on Saturday afternoon Harry Hawker - the aviator - accomplished two flights, and was heartily cheered, both as he rose and alighted.
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In his second flight Hawker circled Ballarat at a height of 1500 feet, hundreds of people In the city obtaining a free view of the aviator. He landed safely.
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Then a mishap ended the proceedings. Hawker, who had had with him a passenger on his second flight, essayed some fancy work, known as steeplechasing, and whilst in the midst of this the nose of the plane dipped suddenly into the ground, and the machine stood up on end with the propeller snapped in half.
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The two occupants appeared to be having a thrilling time, but the machine did not turn over, as was anticipated by many, and both men alighted safely.​
Ross and Keith Smith
The Smith brothers were born in Semaphore, Adelaide, in 1890 and 1892, to Andrew and Jessie (nee Macpherson) in Adelaide.
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Married in 1888, Andrew and Jessie brought up their sons Ross, Keith and Colin on Mutooroo Station S.A. where they gained skills in riding and bushcraft.
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In 1906 the family moved to Andrew Smith's home in Moffat, Scotland, where the brothers studied at Warriston School for two years.
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The family returned to Australia in 1908 and the brothers attended Queen's School and St Peter's College.
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On returning to Australia, Ross Smith joined the Australian Mounted Cadets and was selected in 1910 to tour Britain and the United States of America as a South Australian representative.
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He then joined the 10th Australian Regiment, the Adelaide Rifles.
World War Aviators
When the first World War broke out, Harry Hawker's back injury barred him from entry into the Royal Flying Corps. He was far more valuable as a designer, test pilot and aviation innovator for the Sopwith factory.
​During World War I more than 16,000 Sopwith designed aircraft were built in Britain and France and the company employed over 5,000 people. As part of the war effort many Sopwith designs were also being manufactured by sub-contractors throughout the country.
By 1920, the Sopwith Aviation Company was unable to face the financial demands from the Governments Excess War Profits Duty and were forced into liquidation.
So after the War, T.O.M. Sopwith, Harry Hawker and Chief Designer Fred Sigrist went on to form the hugely successful HG Hawker Engineering Company which quickly acquired the Sopwith Aircraft design patents, as well as taking on the support of pre-existing Sopwith aircraft.
Below: Sopwith Salamanders at The Hawker Ham Works, Richmond, Surrey
Keith Smith was also medically unfit to join the First Australian Imperial Force but was accepted into the British Royal Flying Corps and Royal Air Force as a pilot between 1917 and 1919.
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His brother Ross Smith enlisted in 1914 in the 3rd Light Horse Regiment, landing at Gallipoli 13 May 1915.
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In 1917, he volunteered for the Australian Flying Corps. He was later twice awarded the Military Cross and the Distinguished Flying Cross three times, becoming an air ace with 11 confirmed aerial victories.
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Smith was pilot for T. E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia) and fought in aerial combat missions in the Middle East. He is mentioned several times in Lawrence's book, Seven Pillars of Wisdom, Chapter 114.
Captain Lanoe Hawker
Hawker's father was of a branch of the Hawker family resident at Bungaree in Australia since his own father, George Charles Hawker (son of Royal Navy Admiral Edward Hawker), emigrated in 1839, being elected Speaker of the House of Assembly, South Australia in 1860.
During the summer of 1910 Lanoe Hawker saw a film featuring the Wright Flyer and after attending an aircraft flying display at Bournemouth, he quickly found an interest in aviation, learning to fly at his own expense at Hendon.
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On 4 March 1913, Hawker was awarded Aviator's Certificate No. 435 by the Royal Aero Club.
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Promoted to 1st Lieutenant in October 1913 he was posted to Cork Harbour with the 33rd Fortress Company.
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His request for attachment to the Royal Flying Corps was granted and he reported to the Central Flying School at Upavon on 1 August 1914, three days before Britain entered the First World War.
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The Bristol Scout C, RFC serial no. 1611, flown by Hawker on 25 July 1915 in his Victoria Cross-earning engagement
Lanoe George Hawker, VC, DSO (30 December 1890 – 23 November 1916) was a British flying ace of the First World War.
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His Squadron became pioneers of many aspects in military aviation at the time, driven largely by the imagination of Captain Louis Strange and the engineering talents of Hawker.
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Their talents led to various mountings for Lewis machine guns, one of which won Hawker the Victoria Cross, and one that nearly cost Strange his life.
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Having seven credited victories, he was the third pilot to receive the Victoria Cross, the highest decoration for gallantry awarded to British and Commonwealth servicemen.
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He was killed in a dogfight with the famous German flying ace Manfred von Richthofen ("The Red Baron"), who described him as "the British Boelcke"
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Captain Lanoe Hawker is remembered in a plaque erected in St Barnabas church in Clare.
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Captain Harry Butler
Harry Butler was born on 9 November 1889 at the main hospital of Yorketown on South Australia's Yorke Peninsula.
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The son of John James Butler and Sarah Ann Butler née Cook, he grew up on a small farm near Koolywurtie, attending the Koolywurtie Public School.
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From an early age he showed a strong desire to fly and an aptitude for mechanics; whilst at school he built model aircraft and studied the flying capabilities of his mother's chickens.
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World War I
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In 1915 he entered the Australian Flying School at Point Cook, Victoria as an engineer, but resigned 2 weeks later.
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Like the Smith brothers Butler travelled to England to join the Royal Flying Corps in 1916 to have an opportunity of pilot training, and was commissioned three weeks later.
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He became a Fighting Instructor (Turnberry, Scotland) and Chief Fighting Instructor in the RFC (at Marske Aerodrome in North Yorkshire) and trained over 2,700 pilots.
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In 1918 he received the Air Force Cross, and when demobilised in 1919, he held the rank of captain and returned to South Australia.
The Great Air Race
In 1919 the Australian government offered a prize of £A10,000 for the first Australians in a British aircraft to fly from Great Britain to Australia. The Commonwealth Government announced prize money would be just short of $1 million today to fly from England to Australia in 30 days or less.
The Great Air Race had commenced and Port Darwin was the finish line. Later they flew to Mascot, Sydney, Melbourne and finally to Adelaide.
Six crews entered aircraft in the race and they had until the end of 1920 to claim the prize. Ross and Keith Smith with James Bennett and Wally Shiers wasted no time and left England on 12 November 1919.
Battling freezing European conditions in open cockpit aircraft the men navigated toward the Middle East where they encountered dust storms.
To save weight they flew without a radio receiver and so did without weather forecasts.
Keith’s navigation skills were extraordinary to chart their course across India to South East Asia with only a handheld compass and maps. ​
At 4:12pm, Wednesday 10 December 1919 the Smith brothers, Bennett and Shiers made aviation history when the Vickers Vimy (rhymes with "meany") landed in a makeshift landing strip at Fannie Bay, Port Darwin.
All in all the journey took 135 hours of flying time over 28 days. Many an adventure was had during the flight and the 25 landings.
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Only one other team managed to complete the journey. Ray Parer and John McIntosh arrived in Darwin 237 days after leaving England. Of the four remaining aircraft none completed the race. All four crashed and tragically two crews were killed as a result.
The achievement of these young airmen cannot be understated. Literally flying by the seat of their pants, unaided by modern technology on wings made from fabric. Theirs was a truly inspirational achievement that you might consider when next you board a plane.
Vickers entered a converted Vimy bomber (G-EAOU) (the registration being whimsically said to stand for "God 'elp all of us"), crewed by Captain Ross Macpherson Smith with his brother Lieutenant Keith Macpherson Smith as co-pilot, and mechanics Sergeant W.H. (Wally) Shiers and Sergeant J.M. (Jim) Bennett.
The Vimy left Hounslow Heath at 8.30 am on 12 November 1919. They flew via Lyon, Rome, Cairo, Damascus, Basra, Karachi, Delhi, Calcutta, Akyab, Rangoon
racecourse, Singora (Songkhla) Singapore, Batavia and Surabaya where the aircraft was bogged and had to make use of a temporary airstrip made from bamboo mats, reaching Port Darwin at 4.10pm on 10 December 1919.
The prize money was shared between the Smith brothers and the two mechanics. The Smith brothers each received a knighthood for this exploit, and the company presented their aircraft to the Australian government.
Below: The Port Darwin arrival of the winning flight crew in the Vickers Vimy, now displayed at Adelaide Airport.
SIR ROSS SMITH
Aeroplane Reaches Sydney.
Welcomed by Large Crowds. SYDNEY. — Sir Ross Smith, his brother. Sir Keith Smith, and the two mechanics, Sergeants Bennett and Shiers, completed their flight to Sydney at 10.35 s.m., on Saturday.
The aeroplane left Narromine at 6.55 a.m., and circled over the principal towns en route to Sydney.
Thousands turned out everywhere, and waved greetings to the intrepid airmen.
At Mascot aerodrome, Sydney, their arrival was awaited by a tremendous crowd, including the Smiths' parents.
Before landing, the machine ficw out to sea, and entered again through Sydney Heads, then coming right up the harbor, and flying low, it circled-completely over tho city.
The big machine was accompanied by two Avro machines, which acted as an escort from Penrith.
When Sir Ross Smith's machine stopped at Mascot tho crowd took possession of the airmen, who were carried shoulder high towards the official enclosure. Here, after greeting their parents, they were welcomed by Sir George 'Fuller, on behalf of the State Government. Tlicy then proceeded to the Town Hall, under a police escort, and were accorded a civic reception.
The airmen were busy with private engagements on Sunday. They have a great number of functions before them, and will have their time fully occupied before leaving for Melbourne.
During Saturday afternoon, Sir Koss Smith called on the Prime Minister, who congratulated him on his achievement. Arrangements were also made in connection with the continuation of the flight to Melbourne.
Ross and Keith Smith, Mascot, Sydney, 1920
The huge invited crowd welcoming Australian aviators Ross and Keith Smith, at Mascot, Sydney, 1920.​​
The next proposal, to fly round the world in a Vickers Viking amphibian, ended in disaster.
Both brothers travelled to England to prepare for the trip and on 13 April 1922, while Ross and his long-serving crew member Bennett were test-flying the aircraft at Weybridge near London, it spun into the ground from 1000 feet (305 m), killing both.
Keith, who arrived late for the test flight witnessed the accident. Ross had not flown at all for many months and had never flown this type of aircraft.
The investigating committee concluded that the accident had been the result of pilot error. The flight was abandoned.
The bodies of Sir Ross Smith and Lieutenant Bennett were brought home to Australia and after a state funeral, Smith was buried in Adelaide on 15 June.
Sir Keith Smith was appointed Australian agent for Vickers and retained the connexion with this British company until his death.
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