Plans contain an array of aircraft, majority being from the Second World Warplans, ww2, second world war, mustang, commonwealth aircraft corporation, aircraft plans

3 pages of plans, drawn in black pen, for replica of John Robinson Duigan's Aircraft, 1919. Plans appear to be copies. A3 Manilla envelope addressed to Dr. L.K. Morgan, 57 McIvor Road, Bendigo contains plans. On rear of envelope: RL Lewis Brightwells Hill, Heathcote, 3523. Front view, side view and plan view written respectively on each plan. On bottom RH of 'Front view' plan is stamp from Civil Aviation Authority Australia , dated 9.12.91. On top RH corner is written ' these drawings are not be be reproduced by anyone other than the builder, Ronald Lloyd Lewis' Items in this collection were donated by Dr. Jan Sherringham, whose husband is a pilot. It can only be assumed that this document belonged to them as it postdates Violet's death.person, bendigo, john robinson duigan, duigan, john robinson, lewis, ronald lloyd, aeroplane, plan

Sir Charles Edward Kingsford Smith is a famous Australian, well known in civil aviation history for his courageous endeavours in flight. He broken many flight records for long distance and time travelled and he was also a war hero in World War 1. He has been referred to as being “known to millions of Australians as “Smithy” … he was one of Australia’s true twentieth-century legends”. In honour of his place amongst the world’s famous pioneers his image is featured on Australia’s $20 note, Sydney airport is named after him, there is a memorial to Kingsford Smith, Taylor and Ulm at the Anderson Park, also in Sydney and his plane “Southern Cross” is on view at Brisbane Airport. Kingsford Smith wrote ‘The Old Bus’ (1932) and he and Ulm were co-authors of ‘Story of 'Southern Cross' Trans-Pacific Flight’ (1928). His also wrote a book about his own life ‘My Flying Life’ which was published after his death in 1937. and the story of his life was filmed in Australia in 1946. A BRIEF HISTORY OF SIR CHARLES EDWARD KINGSFORD SMITH (1897 – 1935) … Kingsford Smith was born 9th February 1897 in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. His parents were William Charles Smith and Catherine Mary, nee Kingsford. His mother’s maiden name of “Kingsford” was added to the family name when they spent time in Canada from around 1903 to 1907, after which they returned to Sydney, Australia. In 1915 Kingsford Smith enlisted in Australian Imperial Force. He served in 4th Signal Troop, 2nd Division Signal Company at Gallipoli Peninsular as a ‘sapper’ or combat engineer and later in Egypt and in France as a dispatch rider. In 1916 Kingsford Smith was transferred to the Australian Flying Corps as a sergeant. He was discharged after training in England and commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Royal Flying Corps. He was appointed fling officer and soon joined the 23rd Squadron in France. He brought down four machines in his first month there and also did invaluable work attacking enemy targets. He was wounded and shot down and later awarded the Military Cross ‘for conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty’. He was promoted to lieutenant in 1918 and served as a Flying Instructor with the R.F.C. Kingsford Smith was not allowed to participate in the 1919 England to Australia air race because of assumed lack of navigational experience. He and his pilot friend Cyril Maddocks formed a business and flew joy-flights in both England and America. In America he did some stunt flying with a Flying Circus. Kingsford Smith returned to Australia in 1921 and found employment as a pilot. He soon realised the value of air transport in such a vast country. He formed a partnership with pilot Keith Anderson in 1924 and they purchased two Bristol Tourer biplanes. Their business broadened to include Charles Ulm and became the Interstate Flying services in Sydney. Together they performed important ‘demonstration’ flights including a flight around Australia in 10 days and 5 hours using very limited navigational equipment. Kingsford Smith immediately started to search for support to do a trans-Pacific flight. This support came from the New South Wales government, Sidney Myer and G. Allan Hancock, an American oil magnate. On 31st May 1928 Kingsford Smith, Charles Ulm and two American crewmen, Harry Lyan and Jim Warner, took off from Oakland, California and flew to Brisbane via Hawaii and Suva. This historic flight took 83 hours and 38 minutes. Their Fokker plane had three engines and was named the “Southern Cross”. This amazing achievement resulted in huge financial subscriptions. Kingsford Smith was awarded the Air Force Cross and appointed as honorary squadron leader, Royal Australian Air Force. Kingsford Smith flew his Southern Cross plane from Point Cook in Victoria to Perth nonstop. Then in September – October 1928, with Charles Ulm and an Australian crew, he piloted the Southern Cross from Sidney to Christchurch New Zealand. This flight showed that was possible for regular passenger and mail services across the Tasman Sea. Kingsford Smith flew his plane to England to an order for four aircraft, planning to use them for an inter-capital air service in Australia. Sadly on 1st April 1929 he was forced to land, having lost radio contact with the ground and having run into bad weather over north – west Australia. Keith Anderson and Robert Hitchcock both perished before the search party reached them. Once official enquiries were completed the flight to England continued in June and was completed in record time of 12 days and 18 hours. In January 1930 Kingsford Smith piloted the “Southern Cloud”, one of the new Avro Ten planes, on the first flight of his airline, the Australian National Airways, from Sydney to Melbourne. The “Southern Cross” was overhauled in Holland by the Fokker Aircraft Co. and in June 1930 Kingsford Smith achieved an east-west crossing of the Atlantic from Ireland to Newfoundland in 31.5 hours. Kingsford Smith returned to England and took delivery of an Avro Avian biplane that he named the “Southern Cross Junior” and flew solo from England to Darwin, Australia. This record breaking flight took less than 10 days. He beat four other planes that had left England before him and he was 5.5 days faster than Hinkler. Sadly Kingsford Smith’s “Southern Cloud” was lost during a flight from Sydney to Melbourne in 1931 with no surviving crew or passengers; in 1958 the wreckage was discovered in the Snowy Mountains. Later that year Kingsford Smith flew his “Southern Cloud” from Australia to Timor, collecting mail from a damaged Imperial Airways plane in Timor. Other flights followed. Kingsford Smith was knighted in 1932 for his services in Aviation. He returned to selling joy flights then established the Kingsford Smith Air Service, a flying training school in Sydney. In 1933 Kingsford Smith flew the amazing record flight in “Miss Southern Cross” – a Percival Gull - from London to Wyndham in Western Australia in just over ten days. The Australian Commonwealth then gave Kingsford Smith a large grant and he was also appointed as aviation consultant to Vacuum Oil Co. Another flying record was made when Kingsford Smith and Sir P.G. Taylor flow “Lady Southern Cross” from Brisbane to San Francisco in order to sell her there; the west-east-trans-Pacific flight made aviation history. They returned to Australia to make an attempt at the trans-Tasman flight but their attempt failed due to engine failure; they managed to get back to Sydney safely, minus most of their cargo. Kingsford Smith had his unsold “Lady Southern Cross” shipped back to England, from where he and J. T. Pethybridge in the “Lady Southern Cross” attempted another record breaking flight from England The Old Bus Author: Charles Kingsford Smith Publisher: Distibuted by Herald Feature Service Date; 1932Label on spine cover with typed text RA 629.1309 KIN flagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked coast, flagstaff hill maritime museum, maritime museum, shipwreck coast, flagstaff hill maritime village, great ocean road, the old bus, charles kingsford smith

Prior to World War II an international competition was held for design of a standard sailplane for use in Olympic competition in 1940 in Finland. The design chosen was the “Meise” from DFS in Germany and its designer Hans Jacob. The 1940 Olympics were cancelled due to the outbreak of war and post war international gliding competition has been organized as World Championships, not as an Olympic event. After the war the Meise was manufactured by firms in Europe and a few were built by amateurs from plans. In 1945, a United Kingdom firm, Chilton Aircraft Limited, revised the plans for the DFS Meise Olympia keeping its aerodynamic shape and prepared new technical drawings for the production of the Chilton Olympia. It engaged Elliotts of Newbury (a firm with aircraft production experience during the war) to built a set of wings for its prototype. The wings were made by Elliotts but it apparently refused to let Chiltons have the jigs required to build more wings. The matter was resolved by Chiltons transferring its production rights and equipment to Elliotts. Elliotts produced several batches of Olympias (the “EON Olympia”) – probably about 150 in total from 1947 including Marks 1, 2 and 3 versions (featuring some structural changes and design improvements). The Australian Gliding Museum’s Olympia is a Mark 2 (actually 2B according to the logbook) which can be distinguished by the built in main wheel and blown Perspex canopy. It was designated as serial number EON/O/34 by Elliotts. It was damaged badly at Bristol, UK, in 1949. The wreckage was acquired by a Melbourne based syndicate including Dave Darbyshire, and imported into Australia. Additional damage occurred in shipping due to the need to shorten the wings to fit them into a crate. The syndicate rebuilt the glider and re-launched it in 1956 (registration number VH-GHR). It was flown by the syndicate and several gliding clubs in Victoria and South Australia until about 1972. A potentially airworthy example of a now rare sailplane of historical importanceSingle seat wooden sailplane, partly restored.australian gliding, glider, sailplane, dfs, hans jacob, meise, olympics, eon olympia, chilton aircraft, elliotts of newbury, dave darbyshire, great eastern gliding club, barossa valley gliding club, murray bridge gliding club

In July 1947, the Commonwealth Defence Council approved the formation of a Fleet Air Arm which would be controlled and operated by the RAN. The initial planning included purchase of two aircraft carriers, aircraft and establishment of shore facilities. The carriers were named HMA Ships Sydney and Melbourne, and the shore facilities were at Nowra. HMAS Albatross was commissioned in August 1948 and the 20th Carrier Air Group, comprising Sea Fury and Firefly aircraft, was brought from England to Australia by HMAS Sydney. These aircraft, operated by 805 and 816 Squadrons, disembarked to Nowra in May 1949. In November 1950, they were joined by the Carrier Air Group of 808 and 817 Squadrons, also flying Sea Furies and Fireflies. HMAS Albatross has been expanding ever since. As more capable aircraft have been acquired, so ground support facilities have had to be built. In 1955, Sea Venoms and Gannets arrived, requiring radar workshops and test facilities. More aircraft necessitated stricter standards of air traffic control and a new control tower was built in 1958. In 1964 the introduction of Wessex helicopters, with a dunking sonar capability, required a further expansion of services. In 1965, it was decided to buy American aircraft to replace the ageing British Gannets and Sea Venoms. McDonnell Douglas Skyhawks and Grumman Trackers were chosenand additional avionics facilities were built to service the complex equipment they carried. The helicopters now based at HMAS Albatross have restored to the RAN much of the anti-submarine capability lost when the Tracker squadron was disbanded in 1983. In recent years significant redevelopment has taken place, continuing the operation of HMAS Albatross and recognising its strategic importance as the sole Royal Australian Navy Air Station.Wooden Plaque 15cm x 13cm with insignia of H.M.A.S. Albatross H.M.A.S. Albatross