A.H.S.A. NEWSLETTER

Published by the Aviation Historical Society of Inc. A0033653P, ARBN 092-671-773 Volume 27 Number 1, March 2011 Print Post approved 318780/00033 E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.ahsa.org.au Editor: NEIL FOLLETT

EDITORIAL. We ask all our members who take advantage of the In this issue of the newsletter we have devoted three direct deposit method of payment to ensure that they pages to the unveiling of a plaque to Gertrude McKen¬ include their name with any direct debits made. We zie. This was an AHSA initiative and was cost neutral, have had a couple of occasions where those details due to generous donations from The City of Kingston, were not given which made it difficult to determine who the Victorian Division of the Australian Womens Pilot s had paid. Association, the McKenzie family, AHSA members and past students of the McKenzie Flying School. Commemoratin Pioneer Aviators. From our Darwin correspondent: Mike Flanagan This is the type of project the AHSA should be involved in to further its aims of recording and preserving Austral¬ In November 2006 three new thoroughfares were gazet¬ ia s rich aviation history. ted in the Northern Territory.

In all our capital cities there were early airfields where All were in the Darwin Airport area and all three com¬ our pioneer pilots operated from. How many of these are memorated the names of pioneer aviators’. marked? Probably none. They are: Collopy Road, Neale Street and Osgood Drive. for example had five: South Melbourne, Port Being honoured are: Melbourne, Glenroy, Glenhuntly and Coode Island. None are plagued for current and future generations to learn a Frank Collopy, who was Regional Director of SA/NT Re¬ little of the past history of their area. Recently closed gion of the Department of Civil Aviation during the 1960s aerodromes in the Melbourne area include Fishermans Bend and Berwick. Frank Neale, born in and served with the RCF/ RAF during WWI. He came to Australia in the mid-1920s MEMBERSHIP CARDS. and flew with Australian Aerial Services and Mackay’s Members who paid their 2011 subs in 2010 will have Aerial Survey Expedition. In WWII he was awarded the received two membership cards. Those who have re¬ Air Force Cross and at one time was Commanding Of¬ newed for just 2011 will receive the cards shortly. ficer at Essendon. He died in in December 1979, aged 84. The reason for two cards is for one to be put in an ap¬ propriate holder and be worn at AHSA functions with the Edward Charles (Ossie) Osgood, also born in England, other as a means of identification when taking advantage moved to the Territory in 1953 to fly early uranium explo¬ of discounts to AHSA members. ration surveys and then joined Doug Muir Aviation. Fif¬ teen years later he formed Arnhem Air Charters (with its At the moment only two organisations are offering these famous buffalo head motif) which he operated until retire¬ discounts. Both Alexander Fax Booksellers in Canberra ment in 1995. In January 1994 he was appointed a and Hylands Bookshop in Melbourne offer a 10% dis¬ Member in the Order of Australia. He passed away in count to members. May 2005. (Also see AHSA Newsletter, Vol.21, No.4, December 2005). MEMBERSHIP RENEWALS _ As we did last year we are offering members the oppor¬ Other roadways at or near Darwin Airport named after tunity to pay two years membership to avoid any sub¬ aviators are: Charles Eaton Drive, Henry Wrigley Drive, scription increase for 2012. Pederson Road, Fenton Court, Sir Norman Brearly Drive, Lorres Bonney Avenue, Murphy Drive, Lancaster Road, Many have taken up this offer but due to two different Larkin Avenue, Batten Road and Amy Johnson Avenue. renewal notices (different printers) being sent out, only one showed the option for the two year payment. Email Discussion Group. An email discussion group is If any member has paid for one year, but would like to being established under the guidance of Lance Fishman. take up the two year option, simply send another $58 It is hoped to publish full details in the next newsletter. (Australian addresses) with a note and we will gladly For information in the meantime please contact Lance at accept it. [email protected] au.

1 Melbourne Meetings. November. 2010 Chris Hawker - great-nephew of Harry Hawker gave an January, 2011. This was a Members Night , with 18 illustrated talk on the visit to Australia by Harry with the members giving a short talk on their favourite aeroplane in 1914. This was an aircraft much ad¬ which ranged from the early Bleriots to the Boeing 747. vanced on any held by the Australian Government in stor¬ age at Point Cook. He gave demonstrations in Mel¬ Hinkler Mural. The photos below are from Maurice Richie bourne, Sydney, Albury, Bendigo and Ballarat before it who reports that the mural to Bert Hinkler still adorns an was damaged beyond repair without importation of parts. ex Brisbane Council building in the suburb of Windsor. Of great interest was movie film of the flying. The building is on the corner of Blackmore and McDonald Streets.

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• , . T , S H Chris Hawker holding a framed piece of the Tabloid's *to..: ¦ 1 wing. The plaque reads, Fragment of wing structure from Tabloid aircraft flown by Harry Hawker MBE, AFC in Aus¬ tralia in 1914. Given to Jim Hawker by his father Bert »ua Hawker (Harry s brother).

2 NAMED AIRCRAFT. DE Havilland DH.60M Moth, VH-UPG. Silver Eagle On 26 November 1937 while performing a loop at Mac¬ c/n DHA2. Built at Mascot and first registered to Qantas kay the aircraft suffered structural failure of the port top in January 1931. Qantas were the de Havilland agents in wing. The pilot managed to land successfully at Mackay Queensland and quickly sold the aircraft to F. V. Roffey Aerodrome. of Rockhampton, with it being registered to him on 7 Jan¬ uary 1931. Silver Eagle spent most of the war years without a C of A stored at Mackay.

In August 1945 it was railed from Mackay to Brisbane for C of A renewal and was registered to W.R. Dalgleish effective on 12 January 1946.. Ownership quickly changed to Stanley Porter d- Queensland Flying Ser¬ vices at Archerfield Aerodrome on 7 February 1946.

27 July 1946 saw Queensland Flying Services as the registered owner until 7 March 1947 when a J.G. Bardin became the new owner..

The last registered owner was K. Drew of Esk, Queens¬ land on 12 December 1950.

VH-UPG s days ended on 12 February 1951 when it crashed near Toll Bar, in the Toowoomba Ranges. Roffey shipped the aircraft to New Caledonia where he hoped to use it commercially. He had named it The Golden Eagle . His commercial ven¬ ture was not successful and on 21 November 1931 flew the DH.60 from New Caledonia to Maryborough, Queensland.

VH-UPG was on and off the register a couple of times before being sold to R. Sorenson of Mackay on 20 January 1937, who in turn sold it to J.J. Connor on 25 May 1937

The Golden eagle had now been renamed Silver Eagle . m ®Sl(l

Structural damage to the port upper wing is very evident in this pho¬ to. It is not known if the person holding up the aircraft was the pilot flying the aircraft when the damage occurred.

A newspaper report indicated that the pilot Alan McLean of Ipswich was seriously injured and his passenger was T; killed when the aircraft ¦ crashed in a clearing in heavily timbered coun- try.

3 McKenzie Plaque Unveiling. The newly elected [three days previously] Mayor of the It took almost seven years to come to pass, but on Sun¬ City of Kingston, Cr. Ron Brownlees was the next speak¬ day 5 December 2010 a memorial plaque was unveiled er . He spoke about Gertrude’s local government involve¬ on the grave of Gertrude McKenzie at the New Chelten¬ ment, being the first female mayor of the City of Mordial- ham Cemetery in Melbourne. loc. [ the City of Mordialloc was incorporated into the City of Kingston several years ago ] Gertrude, who operated the McKenzie Flying School at ||s|fl*S| nearby Moorabbin Airport in the 1950 s was lying in an unmarked grave until two months ago. Through the ef¬ forts of the AHSA a project was undertaken to have a plaque placed on her final resting place. Upon hearing that the grave was unmarked her descendants organised a formed grave and headstone. This gave us something to mount our plaque upon.

With financial assistance from the City of Kingston, the Australian Women pilot's Association [Vic. Division], the McKenzie family, the AHSA and members and past stu¬ dents of her flying school the project became viable.

The ceremony was conducted by Dr. Graham Whitehead, the historian of the City of Kingston. Graeme gave a brief account of Gertrude s municipal life.

AHSA Secretary and project coordinator Neil Follett was the first speaker who spoke of the project progress from an initial idea to unveiling. He told of coming to the grave site some seven years ago expecting mention of her headstone of her aviation feats. He found just an un¬ marked grave.

Cameron McKenzie, Gertrude s grandson, then spoke about Gertrude's achievements, one of which was flying a jet aircraft while on a trip to England while attending a Farnborough Air Show.

The Mayor of the City of Kingston, Cr. Ron Brownlees.

The President of the AHSA , Mr. Keith Meggs, then gave a few details of Gertrude’s aviation history and briefly spoke about her aircraft, highlighting that her fleet con¬ sisted of eight aircraft five Tiger Moths, a Chipmunk, an Auster and a Tripacer, which were all named, with the exception of the Tripacer.

For those that didn’t know Keith explained what the let¬ ters M.O.B.A. which was painted on the engine cowlings of all her aircraft stood for. y Own Bloody Aeroplane.

What Keith didn’t mention was that he, himself was an ex student of McKenzie Flying School. He gained his com¬ mercial pilot’s license there after passing the appropriate test in a Tiger Moth in under two hours, (flying Mustangs and Meteors in Korea probably helped him)

Mac’s eldest son Graeme was unable to attend due to health reasons but his wife Helen travelled from Shep- arton. Mac’s granddaughter, Sharon McHale was one of the forty plus people who attended the ceremony as were several members of the McKenzie family.

Judy Rainsford, a past president of the AWPA NSW branch came down from Sydney for the event. Cameron McKenzie. 4 Other groups and organisations that were represented Keith Meggs, DFM, AM (US) CAM, president of the AH¬ were The Friends of Cheltenham and Regional Ceme¬ SA and former RAAF pilot who served in Korea and Mal¬ teries, local historical societies and cadets from the ta and author of the recently published Vol. 1 of Australi¬ McKenzie Wing of the Australian Air League who formed an - Built Aircraft and the Industry. a background guard of honour when the plaque was unveiled. Jacqueline Milroy is an ex school teacher who obtained her instructor’s rating and now operates a flying school at Latrobe Region Airport in the Latrobe Valley.

\ !: i i

A WPA (Vic Div.) President Jacqui Milroy.

AHSA Present Keith Meggs behind the headstone on Mac s grave.

The final speaker was Jacqueline Milroy who is Presi¬ dent of the Victorian Division of the Australian Women Pilot s Association. She spoke of the role women had played in aviation and Mac s contribution.

After the speeches Cameron and his mother Helen were invited to jointly unveil the bronze plaque which now adorns Mac’s grave.

We were privileged with the quality of the speakers who were part of the ceremony. Apart from the most im¬ portant guests, the McKenzie family themselves we had Dr. Graham Whitehead who has researched and written coatless articles on the local history of the area.

Cr. Ron Brownlees, the Mayor of the City of Kingston was also a former mayor of the City of Moorabbin and Cameron and his mother Helen read the plaque after very much an authority on local government. they jointly unveiled it. Other members of the McKenzie family look on from the background. 5 M. O A. GERTRUDE JOSEPHINE McKENZIE 1 22-3 1904 - 1-12-1960 19 2/33 MAYO ESS - CITY OF SOUTH MELBOURNE

The plaque which now displayed on Gertrude s grave.

Cadets from the McKenzie Wing proudly display their system, the chairs for the guests to sit on and cool drinks banner. on what turned out to be a very warm day.

The AHSA would like to thank Irish Smyth of the City of We would also like to thank AHSA member John Fisher Kingston for her much appreciated work in organising who owns Tiger Moth VH-GVA ex VH-GME who offered the unveiling ceremony. Her tasks included sending out to perform a fly over during the ceremony but a hospital official invitations, arranging at very short notice for the visit prevented it. Mayor to attend, organising the portable public address 6 Book Review. First Females above Australia Swift to the Sky. New Zealand’s Military Aviation Histo¬ (The First One Hundred Years of Australian Women ry. Errol Martyn. This 232 page hard cover book is pro¬ Pilot Firsts by: Rosemary Arnold, BAV. fusely illustrated with photos and stories covering the first beginnings of military aviation in New Zealand to today's This A5 sized book provides a very brief summary of RNZAF. highly regarded women pilots over the past 100 years of aviation in Australia. The 192 pages includes a wide The volume not only covers details of RNZAF operations range of aeronautical firsts for women, and covers broad but many individual stories of RNZAF personnel, before areas such as gliding, flying records in both fixed-wing during and after World War Two. and rotary aircraft, ground support, formation flying, com¬ mercial flying, airline and RAAF employment. Although the majority of women included are Australian, it also includes a number of international women pilots who achieved recognition for feats within Australia.

It is unfortunate that each record is limited to a page, giving a bare glimpse of these significant women and their remarkable achievements. There is limited factual information on the women featured (both biographical and aeronautically) and the reader is often left to guess the social context in which the aviators lived. Some of the listed firsts seems to be clutching at straws, which in turn undermines the title, and detracts from the book - you don t need to be first at something to be notewor¬ thy! Celebrating these extraordinary women aviators for the trails they blazed, the hurdles they overcame, the examples they set and the achievements they made, could have further inspired readers to new heights.

Available from the author (P.0 Box 98, Balgowlah, NS , 2093; m: 0404 172 172; or email to: [email protected] . Cost ~$20.00.

nt UUiOTti

The book was produced in association with the Air Force : mS w M r llipi Museum of New Zealand which has added enormous amounts of information and photos from that source. TH- FIRST ONf OF: AM TRAUAN WPfA N PI OT FIRSTS Published by Penguin Viking (N.Z.).

,, A f oA’ > : Errol is a AHSA member and has authored several r , • (A • Y o ' " 'V A,- books on New Zealand aviation .

Most of the books reviewed in the newsletter or Aviation 8 Heritage are sent to us for review purposes. After re¬ l illB III JK viewing they are often kept’ by the reviewer and will WMk make an excellent beginnings of a book collection when we establish an archive. H WjMjnnr If any member has recently read an interesting book on C any aspect of Australian aviation feel free to write a re¬ view on it and present it for publication.

Most members would appear to be quite interested in aviation books, so if you come across any second hand «ls bookshops that has aviation titles in its stock, please let A your fellow members know, through the newsletter. CoMM6M RAT1H.<5 MIN NT AW TR U H Wombn

7 The winner is ....

.... None other than AHSA member Reg Adkins. Reg owned up to being the subject of our mystery photo and for confirmation showed it to wife Shirley who immediately confirmed what she had been looking at for 60 years was indeed Reg.

The photo to the right shows what the other side of the head looks like. Contributions to this issue from: Mike Flanagan, Geoff Goodall, Reg Adkins Maurice Ritchie & Tony Arbon.

THE ODD SHOT

The ultimate auxiliary fuel tank. Cessna 182M VH-EHV at Essendon 16 February 2009.