December 10, 1919. Air First and a Coal Day
The prize posted by the Australian government of 10,000 Australian pounds (then the unit of currency in Australia) for the first aircraft piloted by Australians to fly from England to the Australia was claimed by the crew of a Vickers Vimy bomber, entered into the contest by Vickers.
The plane was crewed by pilots Cpt. Ross Macpherson Smith and his brother Lt. Keith Macpherson Smith, with mechanics Sgt. W. H. Shiers and J.M. Bennett. The plane made the trip from Hounslow Heath to Australian starting on November 12, 1919.
Cpt. Smith was killed test piloting a Vickers Viking seaplane in 1922. Lt. Smith became a Vickers executive and an airline industry figure, dying of natural causes in 1955 at age 64.
Elsewhere, questions began to come up about the nature of diplomatic officer Jenkin's kidnapping even as Republicans continued to press for action of some sort against Mexico. And as the mine strike ended, kids in Casper were let out of school due to lack of coal for heat.
No comments:
Post a Comment