Australia's Passion for Aviation

Australia's Passion for Aviation Following the conclusion of The Great War (WWI) was the boom era of

the 1920s. This period saw Australian society develop more consumerist

ideals and become more interested in thrill seeking it also saw

Australia developed a passionate enthusiasm for aviation. The

combination of technology and thrill seeking drew many Australian’s to

the wonders of flying machines. Aircraft were shown to provide a

multitude of uses, due largely to Australia’s sparsely populated and

isolated location. The establishment of The Royal Flying Doctor

Service was vital in linking Australia’s remote and isolated

communities with the necessities of general health-care and emergency

air ambulances. Likewise, the formation of QANTAS made travel between

Australia’s distant localities straightforward and safe. Society was

irreversibly affected both socially and economically by the

advancement in aviation technology throughout this interwar period.

The foundation of QANTAS began in March 1919, with the failed attempts

of former Australian Flying Corps officers W Hudson Fysh and Paul

McGinness to enter a competition to fly from England to Australia

within 30 days. Instead, they accepted an assignment from the Defence

Department to survey the air race route from Longreach in Queensland

to Katherine in the Northern Territory, leaving supplies along the way

for the competitors. Driving by Model T Ford, their 51 day, 2179km

journey brought upon them the realisat...

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FLYING BOATS IN AUSTRALIA -

http://airlines.afriqonline.com/features/flyboats.htm

THE ROYAL FLYING DOCTORS SERVICE – 75 YEARS OLD -

http://www.sustainablesocialsolutions.com/featurearticles

ROYAL FLYING DOCTORS SERVICE history-

http://users.chariot.net.au/~theburfs/rfds.html

Books

Blainey, Geoffrey, 1994, A Shorter History of Australia, William

Heinemann, Australia

Parnell, Neville. et al, 1988, Flypast – a Record of Aviation in

Australia, Watson and Ferguson & Co, Brisbane, Australia

Charles, David, 1974, the story of aircraft – seven decades of powered

flight, Octopus books limited, Hong Kong

Wilson, Stewart, 1991, Catalina, Neptune and Orion, Aerospace

Publications, Sydney, Australia

CD-ROM

Microsoft Cooperation, 2001, Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia