Ross Smith Airport Trail: Keith Conlon visits this Adelaide Coast region of South Australia
Call in to Adelaide's new airport terminal and you'll meet people heading off on a trip to Paris, Prague or Hawaii. We take modern air travel for granted these days but if you step out of the terminal and follow a new trail you can relive the days of early flight - and the lives of two Adelaide boys who became internationally famous.
Adelaide born brothers Ross and Keith Smith were the stars of their own adventure thriller story as they did the impossible - they became the first to fly from England to Australia in less than thirty days.
Ross and Keith and their mechanics, Wally Shiers and Jim Bennett, had their sights set on the ten thousand pound prize money posted by the Australian Government. On the 12th of November 1919, they set off from Houndslow in England in their Vickers Vimy airplane.
If you know where to look there are plenty of tributes to these incredible men and their flying machine.
The newest is the Smith Brothers Walking Trail. It begins at the airport's new terminal is a series of plagues depicting the epic flight. The four hundred-metre walk leads to the 1959 pavilion housing the very plane the Smith Brothers flew half way around the world.
Judith Rischbieth, of the Walkerville Historical Society, where the boys lived and went to school, reckons we're lucky and honoured to have it here.
"It's hard to believe this is the actual plane," said Judith. "Those wooden propellers went all the way from London to Darwin and eventually to Adelaide."
The box-like Vickers Vimy is an awe-inspiring machine. Originally designed as a bomber it almost beggars belief that this awkward looking fabric covered machine helped end the isolation between Australia and the rest of the world.
Open cockpits; not even a radio because it was too heavy. Just their maps, a compass, Keith's exceptional navigational talents, Ross's steely WW1 flying skills and… tons of courage.
No wonder the boys quickly dubbed the call sign of G-E-A-O-U as 'God Elp All of Us!' It was so cold on the first day out over France their goggles were covered in ice - even the sandwiches froze!
The entire trip is studded with remarkable stories of near misses and brilliant flashes of ingenuity. Like the time in Cairo when an aluminium pipe in the Rolls Royce engine sprang a leak. "What about that new spearmint flavour chewing gum Mr Wrigley gave us?' said the mechanic. So they chewed and chewed, rolled out the gum, wrapped it around the pipe, covered it with linen - problem solved!
There were plenty of other close calls too. Like a hawke hitting the propeller on take-off, a bull charging the plane in a paddock and landing areas studded with tree stumps!
By the time they reached Delhi, the constant roar of the engines had deafened Ross. He didn't hear a word of the welcoming speeches! What about the time in Surabaya when the Vimy was so bogged, they had to line their take-off path with bamboo mats gathered from all over the district?
Miraculously, in just under 28 days after leaving England, the boys reached their destination landing at Fanny Bay in Darwin. The flight took 27 days 20 hours. There were tumultuous scenes caught on film by pioneer cameraman, Frank Hurley. Prime Minister, Billy Hughes handed over the 10-thousand pound prize money which the four men shared equally.
The hero welcome was repeated when they eventually returned to their hometown of Adelaide. Thousands flocked to a Northfield airstrip to congratulate their homegrown aviation pioneers.
It was the first time Mrs Smith had seen her sons for more than 5 years. Not long after Ross and Keith were knighted for their heroic deeds.
It's not hard to find tributes to the Smith Brothers. Besides the new Walking Trail and pavilion at the airport, there's an imposing statue in Creswell Gardens outside Adelaide Oval.
Because they landed nearby, the Enfield Heritage Museum at Sunnybrae has an exhibition in their honour too. Here you can watch the whole Frank Hurley film on their incredible air race.
After all that celebration, tragedy struck. Within a coupe of years, Ross Smith and his mechanic, Bennett were testing a Vicars amphibian aircraft that they thought might take them around the world when it crashed in England and they were killed. Literally thousands of people came to their funeral and to the North Road cemetery to see him buried.
Many years later, 1955, his brother, Keith Smith was buried next to him. So the Adelaide brothers, Ross and Keith Smith are here. True international heroes."
The Smith Brothers Walking Trail links the new airport terminal and the pavilion housing the famous Vickers Vimy. Pick up a brochure from the information desk inside the terminal.
The Enfield Heritage Museum is part of Sunnybrae Farm at Regency Park. It's open Wednesday afternoons and Saturday mornings. If you have any further questions please email info@postcards-sa.com.au
Smith Brothers Walking Trail
Adelaide Airport
Brochure available from info desk.Enfield Heritage Museum
Sunnybrae Farm
Gallipoli Grove
Regency Park
Open Wed 12-4, Sat 9-12 Ph 8447 4788Published 17th Sept 2006
