This Day in History: 1910-03-13

“Wittber’s Hop” took place on 13 March 1910 when engineer C.W. Wittber made a hop (a short flight) during taxi tests of Bleriot XI monoplane No. 37 owned by F.H. Jones at Bolivar, SA, 10 miles north of Adelaide city. The machine struck a tussock, lurched into the air and after about 15 metres, landed. The aircraft was only airborne for a short distance and Wittber never claimed it as a flight. A monument to the event was erected at Victoria Drive & Port Wakefield Road, Parafield Gardens, SA. The inscription on the memorial reads: First Australian Power Flight / “Wittber’s Hop” / Here on March 13th. 1910 in a Bleriot mono-plane owned by F. H. Jones, Carl W. (Bill) Wittber, during taxi-ing tests was unexpectedly airborne in a hop caused by a gust of wind. / Four days later Fred C. Custance, made the first flight in this aircraft in South Australia. / On landing it was wrecked, the pilot escaping uninjured. / This memorial was erected by the City of Salisbury. Sources: Parnell, N. and Boughton, T., Flypast, A Record of Aviation in Australia, Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra, 1988; Monuments Australia