Charles Kingsford Smith

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Kingsford Smith in his flying gear
Kingsford Smith in his flying gear

Air Commodore Sir Charles Edward Kingsford Smith MC, AFC (February 9, 1897 - November 8, 1935), often called Charles Kingsford Smith, or by his nickname Smithy, was the best-known early Australian aviator. In 1928, he made the first trans-Pacific flight from the United States to Australia. He also made the first non-stop crossing of the Australian mainland, the first flights between Australia and New Zealand, and the first eastward Pacific crossing from Australia to the United States.

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[edit] Early Life

Kingsford Smith was born in Brisbane, and was one of seven children. From 1905 to 1909, he and his family lived in Vancouver.

On 2 January 1907 young Charlie Smith was rescued from certain drowning at Sydney’s famous Bondi Beach by bathers who, just seven weeks later, were responsible for founding the world’s first official surf lifesaving group at Bondi Beach on 21 February 1907, at a meeting held at the Royal Hotel Bondi Beach. [1]

Upon returning to Australia, he attended St Andrew's Cathedral School in Sydney where he was a treble chorister in the cathedral choir. He then studied electrical engineering at Sydney Technical College (now known as Sydney Technical High School). He was reportedly expelled from this school.

[edit] World War I and early flying experience

At 16 he became an engineering apprentice with the Colonial Sugar Refining Company. After that, he enlisted for duty in the armed services in 1915 and served at Gallipoli. Initially, he performed duty as a motorcycle despatch rider, before transferring to the Royal Flying Corps, earning his wings in 1917.

Kingsford Smith was demobilized in August 1917 after being shot down and receiving injuries which required a large part of his left foot to be amputated. For his gallantry in battle, he was awarded the Military Cross.

After the war, Kingsford Smith worked as a barnstormer in the United States before returning to Australia in 1921.[2] He did the same in Australia and also flew airmail services, and began to plan his record-breaking flight across the Pacific. [3]

[edit] 1928 - Trans-Pacific flight

The Southern Cross at a RAAF base near Canberra in 1943.
The Southern Cross at a RAAF base near Canberra in 1943.

Kingsford Smith and Charles Ulm arrived in the United States and began to search for an aircraft. They purchased and equipped a Fokker F.VII/3m monoplane, which they named the Southern Cross.[4]

At 8:54 am on May 31, 1928, [4] Kingsford Smith and his crew left Oakland, California to make the first trans-Pacific flight to Australia. The flight was in three stages, from Oakland, California to Hawaii, then to Suva, Fiji, and on to Brisbane, where he landed 8 days later on June 9. On arrival, he was met by a huge crowd of 25,000 at Eagle Farm Airport, and was feted as a hero [5][6][7]. Australian aviator Charles Ulm was the relief pilot, and the other two crew members were Americans James Warner and Captain Harry Lyon (who were the radio operator, navigator and engineer).


[edit] Australian National Airways

Main article: Australian National Airways (1930)

[edit] Later Flights

In 1930, he competed in an England to Australia air race, and, flying solo, won the event.

In 1931 he purchased an Avro Avian he named the Southern Cross Minor, to attempt an Australia to England flight. He later sold the aircraft to Captain W.N. "Bill" Lancaster who vanished April 11, 1933 over the Sahara Desert. His remains were not found until 1962. The wreck of the Southern Cross Minor is now in the Queensland Museum [8].

In 1933 Seven Mile Beach was used by Sir Charles Kingsford Smith as the runway for the first commercial flight between Australia and New Zealand.

[edit] Disappearance

It was during another epic flight that Kingsford Smith met his end. Once again flying from England to Australia, he and his copilot Tommy Pethybridge departed Allahabad, India for a leg to Singapore, flying in Lockheed Altair Lady Southern Cross. The aircraft did not arrive at its destination. Eighteen months later, wreckage from the aircraft was located off the south coast of Burma. The remains of the crew have never been located.

[edit] Legacy

The major airport of Sydney, located in the suburb of Mascot was named Kingsford Smith International Airport in his honour. A federal electorate, for the parliament of Australia, which encompasses the airport is called Kingsford Smith. A suburb of Sydney is named Kingsford.

His aircraft, the Southern Cross, is now preserved and displayed in a purpose-built memorial at the International Terminal at Brisbane Airport. Kingsford Smith Drive in Brisbane passes through the suburb of his birth, Hamilton, with Kingsford Smith Drive in the suburb of Belconnen, Canberra also bearing his name.

Obverse with portrait
Obverse with portrait

He was also pictured on the Australian $20 paper note (in circulation from 1966 until 1994, when the $20 polymer note was introduced to replace it) to honour his contribution to aviation and his accomplishments during his life.

Kingsford Smith was knighted in 1932 for services to aviation and later was appointed honorary Air Commodore of the Royal Australian Air Force.

He was a Freemason [9].

[edit] Film and television tributes to Charles Kingsford Smith

  • The 1985 Australian television mini-series "A Thousand Skies", with John Walton as Charles Kingsford Smith and Andrew Clarke as Charles Ulm). [2]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Bondi Surf Club
  2. ^ Fifty Australians
  3. ^ Charles Kingsford Smith biography Ace Pilots
  4. ^ a b 7.30 report story about Charles Ulm
  5. ^ History of Eagle Farm (Our Brisbane)
  6. ^ Photo of Southern Cross, and welcoming crowd, at Eagle Farm on June 9, 1928 (National Archives of Australia)
  7. ^ Magnificent Machines - Home-grown Legends (Sydney Morning Herald)
  8. ^ The Pioneers - Chubbie Miller
  9. ^ Famous Freemasons

[edit] External links

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