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Aviation Historical Society of Australia
  • Home
  • AHSA
    • AHSA Inc. Meetings
    • AHSA Inc
      • AGM 2022
    • AHSA (NSW) Inc.
    • AHSA (QLD) Inc.
    • Privacy Policy
    • Disclaimer
  • Publications
    • Aviation Heritage
    • Aviation Heritage Web Archive
    • AHSA Newsletter Archive
  • Members
    • Members Only
  • Books
  • Join
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  • Log In
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Category: AHSA Meetings

Melbourne Meetings:

AHSA Inc. holds monthly meetings on the fourth Wednesday of the month, 7.30pm at the Air Force Association, 24 Camberwell Rd, Hawthorn East.

Some members meet casually for dinner from 6.00pm at the Tower Hotel.

Our monthly meetings are also webcast online via Zoom, for members who cannot attend in person.

Meeting details are sent to members each month.
Click on the heading below to view recordings of previous monthly meetings:

AHSA Logo, Southern Cross over Australia
DerekB10/12/202309/03/2024

Melbourne Meeting: 28 February 2024, Ashley Briggs OAM

The Melbourne meeting on Wednesday 28 February 2024 of the AHSA Inc. was held at the RAAF Association meeting room, Camberwell Road, East Hawthorn....
Delicious food cooking on the barbecue at the 2022 AHSA end of year gathering
DerekB10/12/202311/12/2023

AHSA Melbourne Meeting December 2023: Annual Barbeque

The end-of-year AHSA barbecue was held at Moorabbin Air Museum on Sunday 10 December from 10am to 2pm. The weather forecast was not great,...
DerekB26/07/202321/05/2024

AHSA Melbourne Meeting July 2023 (Andrew Jackling: Space Weather Forecasting)

Our guest speaker at the 26 July 2023 AHSA Meeting in Melbourne was Andrew Jackling, who presented on the topic “Eyes in the sky:...
DerekB28/06/202321/05/2024

AHSA Melbourne Meeting June 2023 (Mark Lax: Tips and Tricks For Researching Our Air Force’s Stories)

The speaker for our combined Friends of Air Force History and Heritage (FAFHH) and Aviation Historical Society of Australia (AHSA) on 28 June 2023...
DerekB24/05/202321/05/2024

AHSA Melbourne Meeting May 2023 (Andy Hansen: A Short History of Aerial Photography)

Our guest speaker at the meeting held on 24 May 2023 was Dr Andrew Hansen, who gave a fascinating presentation about the history and...
DerekB26/04/202321/05/2024

AHSA Melbourne Meeting April 2023 (Martin James: Battle of the Bismarck Sea)

Our speaker for the meeting held on 26 April 2023 was RAAF Historian Mr Martin James. This meeting was another joint presentation with the...
DerekB22/03/202321/05/2024

AHSA Melbourne Meeting March 2023 (Annie Floodin: Boeing History)

Our March 2023 Melbourne meeting featured a presentation by Annie Floodin, a historian from Boeing Historical Services who is currently visiting Australia connecting with...
DerekB22/02/202321/05/2024

AHSA Melbourne Meeting February 2023 (Jeff Maynard: The Lost Records of Sir Hubert Wilkins)

Jeff Maynard was the guest speaker for our 22 February 2023 meeting in Melbourne. Jeff has been researching the life and records of Sir...
DerekB11/12/202212/12/2022

AHSA Melbourne Meeting December 2022: Annual Barbeque

The final Melbourne meeting for the year will be a member's barbecue, to be held at the Moorabbin Air Museum on Sunday 11 December,...
DerekB23/11/202215/12/2022

AHSA Melbourne Meeting November 2022: Annual General Meeting

Our November meeting was the Annual General Meeting of the AHSA Inc, held on 23 November 2022, and was followed by a "Member's Night",...

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Welcome to the website of the Aviation Historical Society of Australia Inc.
The AHSA is dedicated to recording and promoting Australian aviation history. We find and tell the stories of how aviation (both civil and military) has contributed to the development of Australia and the experiences of Australian people.
To navigate around the site, select from the menu bar above, click on one of the updates below or choose one of the categories below.

On this day in Australian aviation history:

1912 Australia's first organised air race was conducted on 29 June 1912, following a delay from the planned date of 15 June caused by bad weather. The American daredevil and pilot Arthur Burr "Wizard" Stone was on a tour of Australia in early 1912 and had challenged the Australian aviator William Hart (who had gained Australia’s No. 1 Pilot’s licence) to a series of three races. The event was staged by Mr. Philip Lytton, a promoter, who signed up Hart and Stone for the "greatest show that Sydney has ever seen". Lytton's event included motorcar and motorcycle races, as well as a model aircraft competition. It was touted as the First International Aviation contest. A whole program of thrilling events at the Ascot racecourse went ahead on 15 June but unfortunately the air race was called off due to bad weather. The air race was rescheduled for a fortnight later and held on 29 June. Hart flew from Surrey Park, Botany, to Parramatta Park in his rebuilt biplane and won. It was arranged that Wizard Stone would depart some five minutes after Hart, since he was flying a Metz Blériot monoplane which was faster than Hart's Bristol Boxkite biplane. However, Stone lost his bearings in clouds and was forced down as his plane was running low on fuel. Stone made the mistake of following the river. The stormy clouds confused him so much that he went westwards and ended up in Lakemba. Hart, being born and raised in Parramatta, knew that best way was to just follow the railway line to the north-west. So, it was on 29th June 1912, that aviator Billy Hart left Botany at 3.30pm and landed in Parramatta Park at 3.54pm, and consequently won the first Australian “International” air race, taking the £250 prize money. Sources: White, Ronald, William Ewart Hart - A Forgotten First; Museum of Applied Arts & Sciences; Parnell, N. and Boughton, T., Flypast, A Record of Aviation in Australia, Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra, 1988 pp. 16-17.

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