AHSA Newsletter October 2016 – Aviation Historical Society of Australia

1930 Australian National Airways Limited (ANA) inaugurated the airline's first service - from Sydney to Brisbane - with simultaneous departures of two Avro 618 "X" aircraft, one from Sydney and one from Brisbane on 1 January 1930. Charles Kingsford Smith and G.U. 'Scotty' Allan flew the north-bound service in 'Southern Cloud' (VH-UMF) without incident. However Jack Shepherd and Charles Ulm, flying 'Southern Sky' (VH-UMH) on the south-bound service ran into bad weather and made a forced landing near Old Bonalbo, NSW, in a small clearing amid dense woodlands. The eight passengers and two crew were shaken but unhurt and continued their journey by car and rail the following day. The damaged aircraft was repaired on the site and flown out of the clearing on 17 January by Charles Kingsford Smith. Source: Aviation Heritage vol 20 no 2.

1990 The rotary wing capabilities of the ADF were transferred from the RAAF to the Army on 1 January 1990. This included control of the eighteen Aerospatiale AS350B Squirrel helicopters at the joint ADF Helicopter School (ADFHS) at Fairbairn, where they continued as trainers. Source: Aircraft of the RAAF.