England to Australia

Press, Volume LXXII, Issue 21908, 8 October 1936, Page 5 (Supplement)

England to Australia

A reader has asked for an account of the flight of Ron and Keith Smith from England to Australia. Captain Ross Smith, accompanied by his brother Lieutenant Keith Smith, and Sergeants J. M. Bennett and W. M. Shires, made the first flight from England to Australia. They took off from England on November 12, 1919, and landed in Australia 28 days later, on December 10. Thus Captain Ross Smith won the £IO,OOO prize which the Commonwealth Government of Australia offered for the first pilot +o jiporvmnlish fhp flight from Or aat

Britain to Australia in an aeroplane or seaplane within 720 consecutive hours before midnight, December 31, 1920. The conditions laid down by the Australian Government provided that the complete aircraft and all its component parts had to be constructed entirely within the British Empire. The pilots ahd crew had to be of Australian nationality. Entries had to be made to the Royal Aero Club, London, accompanied by an entrance fee of £IOO.

The aeroplane they used was a big _ twin-engined Vickers-Vimy, similar to the aeroplane in which Messrs Alcock and Brown crossed the Atlantic a few months before. Captain Ross Smith’s flight was a remarkable one. His machine was big and cumbersome compared with the modern aircraft flown

THE FIRST FLIGHT

over the same route to-day, averaged only 85 miles an ww* over the 10,935 mile journey. times the machine was W® with ice and the food was at other times the intense tew a the tropics caused various pars a the aeroplane to meant constant adjusting «7|'r w hard-worked mechanics, i -| N . All pilots who make the MUR! to Australia flight have » these difficulties, but W&J JKr benefited by the mistakes pioneers and are better PHajSS! for the experiences: modern machines help

overcome many of. the that Ross Smith and his P*®*S|L. crew had to endure as oesjr-' C °The first flight to AffltojHj a tremendous achievemem ■JSjj. is considered that just tO w fore the world was, yypji Louis Bleriot’s flight of across the English minutes. When asked if wireless. Captain Ross plied: “Not on your 1“®150 pounds and it wouiojgiJ worth it unless we. had giving an absolutely acc"*s2pf ion. What would be sending an SOS call people’s time looking For the flight and his brother, Smith were both knighte^