CAC Mustang – Aviation Historical Society of Australia

DerekB27/04/202204/06/2023

The Aircraft Projects of Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation

This new book by author and AHSA member Joe Vella has just been published (April 2022). Joe began writing this book in 1983 when...

DerekB29/09/202027/12/2022

Australian-built Aircraft and the Industry (Vol 2) by Keith Meggs

The latest book released by author Keith Meggs Volume 2 of this encyclopaedic work (containing only one chapter, being chapter 15, spread across two...

1927 Keith Anderson and C.C. Vivian were forced to return to Melbourne by bad weather on the Melbourne - Sydney leg of their round-Australia flight sponsored by Bond & Co on 7 July 1927. Anderson and Vivian were flying in the Bristol Tourer G-AUDK. Telling the story of their failure to get through to Sydney, Mr. C. C. Vivian (Advertising Manager for Bond & Co.) said "We left Melbourne at 7.55 a.m. We had a strong head wind, and averaged 30 to 35 miles an hour. When about 20 miles out of Melbourne we encountered heavy storm clouds. The wind increased in force, and we were making very little headway. We climbed to 10,000 feet. but could not get over these cloud banks. The wind increased and we could not push on, so we dropped again to within 1,000 feet, but the conditions were such that visibility was restricted to half a mile. The storm was getting worse, and was closing in on us. After a bad knocking about we were forced to return to the Essendon Aerodrome for safety." Source: Queensland Times (Ipswich, Qld. : 1909 - 1954) Fri 8 Jul 1927 Page 8 BOND'S 'PLANE.

1942 Lockheed 414-56 Hudson IIIA A16-198 of No. 32 Squadron RAAF crashed off Tallow Beach, NSW on 7 July 1942. The aircraft crashed into sea off Tallow Beach between Broken Head and Byron Bay, NSW. The crew of 10 all died in the crash. They included FLTLT Robert Thomas Trigg Serv#467, SGT Douglas John Lovejoy Serv#403752, SGT Gavin Athole Laurie Mclaren Serv#406859, SGT Gordon William George Ridge Serv#416231, SGT David Leslie Bradley Serv#30650, LAC Edward George Kimmins Serv#22537, LAC William Edwards Evans Serv#24493, LAC Harold Wilmot Johnstone Serv#24775, LAC Frederick Albert Charles Wood Serv#24672 and AC1 Edward George Merefield Serv#25767. Sources: ADF-Serials; aviation-safety.net website

1984 The first direct jet service to Hamilton Island was inaugurated on 7 July 1984 when Ansett Airlines Boeing 737-277A VH-CZT arrived from Melbourne. Passenger jets replaced the two Sikorsky S-61 helicopters which had previously operated from the mainland. The Hamilton Island resort was co-owned by Ansett Airlines and entrepreneur Keith Williams, and by the time of the runway opening they had spent more than A$50million on the resort and airport complex, with an equal amount scheduled to be invested over the coming eighteen months. The runway alone cost well over A$10 million and was capable of taking Boeing 767 or 747SP aircraft.

A second Boeing 737-277A, VH-CZV, also flew in from Sydney on 7 July 1984. Sources: National Archives of Australia, Australianaviation.com.au, photo credit - Copyright National Archives of Australia, Saturday 7 July 1984