QUEENSLAND'S GERMAN CONNECTIONS - PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE

First solo flight to Fifth Continent

London

Darwin

Bundaberg

During the 1920s Bert Hinkler performed aerial stunts around the world, culminating in February 1928 when he made the first solo flight from England to Australia, his Avro 581E Avian G-EBOV covering the 11,250 miles (18,100km) in 128 flying hours over a little more than 15 days. Plaudits were rained on Hinkler, and Queensland – and Australia – was beside itself with joy. His flight proved an unexpected financial success when the Australian government gave him £2000 and he was honoured by Prime Minister Stanley Bruce. He was made an honorary squadron leader in the Royal Australian Air Force Reserve and was awarded the Air Force Cross.

His closest associates described Hinkler as a man without fear, an ideal aerial companion, a man without pretensions who achieved without fuss, and a flying genius. Centenerian Stan Kenwrick vividly recalls local Queensland sentiment at the time: “Another memorable event of those days was the arrival of Bert Hinkler in Brisbane after becoming the first person to fly solo from England to Australia. They put on a civic welcome for him and we stood on the corner of Queen and George Streets in Brisbane when he sat beside his plane with wings folded up on the back of a one ton truck as it drove through Brisbane for a civic reception. He was a real hero to us locals. It was a time for heroes and for having great pride in our achievements. Like Hinkler we all saw ourselves as Australia’s sons, and like Hinkler, we always tried to do her proud.” Bert Hinkler stands by the empennage of his trusty Avro on the flatlands of Camooweal, in Queensland’s far northwest, in 1928, at the end of an amazing journey from Europe. Image courtesy of State Library of Queensland Above left: Hinkler’s 1928 route essentially retraced the Smith Brothers’ route nine years before – but Bert did it with half as many engines and pilots! Above: Not only this photographer was on a rooftop as Brisbane came to a tramstill in March 1928 as Hinkler and his aeroplane were feted through the city streets. Image courtesy of State Library of Queensland

Brisbane went crazy in March 1928, after Hinkler flew in to Ascot racecourse, and his plane was disassembled to join him for a triumphant parade before 12,000 people lining the city streets. Sadly, his father, John, had died the previous October, so could not share in his son’s triumph and national adulation. Mercifully, he was spared the pain of Bert’s death in a blizzard five years later, on 7 January 1933, when his de Havilland Puss Moth crashed into the alpine passes of Italy’s Apennines during an attempt to make the flight to Australia in less than the current

eight-day record.

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