This Day in History: 1924-04-28

WGCDR Stanley James Goble and FLGOFF Ivor Ewing McIntyre continued their around-Australia flight in Fairey IIID A10-3. Goble and McIntyre had slept in the Fairey overnight to ensure floating off with the tide on the morning of 28 April 1924, but although they had anchored some 200 yards from the previous day’s high water mark, the night tide was too low, and natives had to be hurriedly called from their beds to help push the seaplane into deeper water. McIntyre used the engine to assist as they pushed and pulled the aircraft around. The port float was strained and was leaking badly. Bound for Broome, they took off from Mission Bay at 10.00 a.m. in a choppy sea with one float half full of water. The engine was running very well, and Broome was reached at 2.45 p.m. The harbour was very exposed, and with a tide of 36 feet was not of much use as a seaplane base. Source: The First Round-Australia Flight, 1924 by Neville Parnell, AHSA Journal, vol 6, no 12, December 1965