People
When talking about aviation in Australia, most people know of famous pioneers like Sir Charles Kingsford Smith, Bert Hinkler, the Smith brothers (Keith and Ross Smith), Stanley Goble and Ivor McIntyre. Some may know of Millicent Bryant, Nancy-Bird Walton and Deborah Lawrie who became trailblazers for women in aviation. Many of the famous early pioneers had a military background serving in the Australian Flying Corps (AFC)and in British services such as the Royal Naval Air Service and Royal Flying Corps. When those two services combined in April 1918 to form the Royal Air Force it began a long association with many Australians serving with distinction as members of the RAF throughout both World Wars.
Little thought is given to breakthrough aircraft designers such as Sir Lawrence Wackett, known for his work on military aircraft like the Wirraway and flying boats, Lawrence Hargrave, a pioneering inventor of the box kite which influenced early aviation, Edgar Percival, who designed high-performance aircraft after moving to England and Fred David, the designer of the CAC Boomerang fighter.
Soon we will be making avialable short biographies and articles of prominent Australians who paved the way in the countries fledgling aviation industry to non members to assit them further in their research, if you require infomation about a particular aviator, please Contact Us.