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Aviation Historical Society of Australia
  • Home
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      • AGM 2022
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Category: AHSA Videos

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...
DerekB26/10/202228/11/2022

AHSA Melbourne Meeting October 2022 (Peter Hobbins: The RAAF’s early embrace of flight simulation)

Our October 2022 Melbourne meeting was another joint presentation with the RAAF History and Heritage Branch, and we thank them for this continuing collaboration....
DerekB28/09/202224/11/2022

AHSA Monthly Meeting September 2022 (GPCAPT Grant Kelly: Historic Unrecovered War Casualties)

Our September 2022 Melbourne meeting was held in person at the RAAF Association meeting room in Hawthorn and also “broadcast” to interstate members via...
DerekB24/08/202210/11/2022

AHSA Monthly Meeting August 2022 (Richard de Crespigny AM: The QF32 Experience – Before, During & After)

Our August 2022 Melbourne meeting was held in person at the RAAF Association meeting room in Hawthorn and also “broadcast” to interstate members via...
DerekB27/07/202208/11/2022

AHSA Monthly Meeting 27 July 2022 (GPCAPT Macauley Cottrell: Forward Air Control Operations In Vietnam)

Our July 2022 Melbourne meeting, held in collaboration with the Friends of Air Force History and Heritage, was held in person at the RAAF...

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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:

1929 After being found beside the Glenelg River by search aircraft, Charles Kingsford Smith, Charles Ulm, Harold Litchfield and Tom McWilliams remained with the Southern Cross on 15 April 1929. Les Holden flew the DH.61 "Canberra" to the site of the forced landing and again dropped supplies and messages. Colonel Mansbridge, who coordinated the aerial search was aboard the aircraft. The "Canberra" then flew on to Port George IV mission and learned that native runners had made contact with the crew of the Southern Cross. The aircraft returned to Derby. Bert Heath again flew to the Southern Cross, carrying more food and supplies, landing beside the Southern Cross. F.T. O'Dea landed his Bristol Tourer next to the Southern Cross, and his aircraft became bogged. The crew of the Southern Cross were eager to take off and join in with the search for Anderson and Hitchcock. They knew that if the Kookaburra had landed between Alice Springs and Wyndham the fliers would not have any source of water, which the Southern Cross crew did have at their landing site. So they were anxious to join the search for their friends. Heath and O'Dean both returned to Derby later in the day. Arrangements were being made to deliver fuel and oil to the Southern Cross by air, but landing at the site was still treacherous since the mud flats were being made soggy by neap tides. Keith Anderson and Bob Hitchcock and the Kookaburra were stranded in the Tanami desert for a fifth day on 15 April. Les Holden was preparing to go in search of the missing airmen and carried out maintenance on the Canberra and contacted sites along his possible route to determine if fuel and oil were available. The two RAAF de Havilland DH.9A aircraft (A1-1 flown by FLTLT Charles Eaton with CPL P. Sullivan as mechanic and A1-7 flown by FLGOFF A.G. Gerrand with SGT J.A. Campbell as mechanic) left Oodnadatta and flew to Alice Springs. The forced landing by the Southern Cross and its consequences became known as the "Coffee Royal" affair. Sources: Parnell, N. and Boughton, T., Flypast, A Record of Aviation in Australia, Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra, 1988; Morning Bulletin (Rockhampton, Qld), Mon 15 Apr 1929, Page 9, "LIEUTENANT ULM'S LOG"; Davis, Pedr and Smith, Dick, Kookaburra: The Most Compelling Story in Australia's Aviation History, Lansdowne Press, Dee Why, NSW, 1980

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