Essington Lewis – Aviation Historical Society of Australia

DerekB16/09/202027/12/2022

AHSA Monthly Meeting 16 Sep 2020 (Derek Buckmaster: The Wirraway “Newspaper War”)

Derek Buckmaster gave a presentation on The Wirraway "Newspaper War". The AHSA September monthly meeting was held online via Zoom. A recording of the...

1914 French pilot, Maurice Guillaux set out on the first official airmail flight in Australia on 18 July 1914, departing from Melbourne showgrounds with the final destination of Sydney. Guillaux was flying a Blériot XI monoplane, which is now preserved at the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences in Sydney (known as the Powerhouse Museum). His cargo included 1,785 post-cards, some official letters (from the Governor of Victoria to the Governor of NSW and from the French Vice-Consul in Melbourne to the French Consul-General in Sydney), as well as a quantity of Lipton tea and bottles of OT Cordial products (OT and OT Lemon Squash) that were consigned to the Commercial Travellers’ Club, Sydney. The tea and cordial thus became the first air cargo flown in Australia. As the Bleriot only carried enough fuel for about 2 hours’ flying time, the route for the airmail flight was planned with regular refuelling stops, the first of which was at Seymour, 98km north of Melbourne. He also stopped in Albury, Wagga and Harden where he stopped overnight due to strong headwinds. Source: Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences

1952 Hawker Sea Fury VW622 operated by 805 Sqn FAA RN crashed at RNAS Nowra, NSW on 16 July 1952. The aircraft crashed on the runway when control was lost during a practice low altitude roll. The Commanding Officer of 805 Squadron, Lt-Commander D.R. Hare was killed in the accident. Source: aviation-safety.net website