England to Australia flight
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In 1919 the Commonwealth Government of Australia offered a prize of £10,000 for the first flight by Australians in a British aircraft from Hounslow or Calshot in England to Australia accomplished within 720 hours. Vickers entered a Vimy bomber, registered G-EAOU, crewed by Captain Ross Macpherson Smith that left Hounslow at 8am on 12 November 1919. On board were his brother Lieutenant Keith Macpherson Smith (co-pilot) and mechanics Sergeant W.H. (Wally) Shiers and J.M. (Jim) Bennett.
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[edit] Overview
It routed via Lyon, Rome, Cairo, Damascus, Basra, Karachi, Delhi, Calcutta, Akyab, Rangoon racecourse, Singora (Songkhla) (in Siam unscheduled in heavy rain), Singapore, Batana and Surabaya where the aircraft was bogged and had to make use of a temporary airstrip made from bamboo mats, reaching Darwin at 4.10pm on 10 December 1919. The flight distance was estimated as 17,911 kilometers and total flying time was 135 hours 55 minutes. The Smith brothers each received a knighthood for this exploit and the company presented their aircraft to the Australian government. It was placed on display in Adelaide. The prizemoney was shared between the Smith brothers and the two mechanics.
[edit] Other entries
A total of six entries started in the race, Two of them are mentioned here:
A team who entered the race, but did not succeed was the team using a Blackburn Kangaroo, Registration G-EAOW, As navigator for the aircraft, the Australian aviator Charles Kingsford Smith was selected, but he withdrew from the contest, and Hubert Wilkins took over his place.
With the other members of the crew, the Blackburn Kangaroo left England on 21 November 1919. Problems were experienced with the engines and the plane was forced down over France. Repairs were made and the flight continued, still with engine problems, Eventually the plane crash-landed against a fence for a mental hospital in Crete. The crew escaped without injury.
The last to depart for the contest was the only other entry to actually make it to Australia - de Havilland DH9 G-EAQM. under the command of Lieutenant Ray Parer, with co-pilot Lieutenant John C. McIntosh. They departed from London on 8 January 1920 and completed their flight in an epic 206 days later, earning Parer the sobriquet «Battling Ray».
The four other entrants gave up the race at various places en route.
