THE SOUTHERN CROSS REPLICA
- Smithy's famous plane flies again!!!
In the 1920's, the "Southern Cross" aircraft was internationally famous, as it was urged across continents and oceans, pioneering the daring idea of long distance aviation. And now, the Southern Cross Replica - famous in its own right - is back where it belongs in South Australian skies.
We watched the tarmac preparation of this vintage plane in readiness for our flight back into momentous chapters of aviation history. Lindsay Barton and Tony Schwerdt were our pilots and Keith Hewison our engineer for this full size, flaps-and-all replica of a 1925 Dutch-built Fokker - officially model FVI-II-3m (three engines). And this 1980's version has a claim to fame. It's the largest replica plane flying in the world, thanks to the massive wooden wingspan of 21.8 metres.
The original Southern Cross was known to its famous aviators Sir Charles Kingsford Smith and Charles Ulm as "The Old Bus." We were about to experience the way these magnificent men felt in their flying machine as we took off in "The New Bus." First, however, the original plane has a connection with South Australia that goes back to its first owner in 1925. Hubert Wilkins didn't have the mild conditions that favoured our flight - his newly assembled Fokker was intended for further pioneering flights in the Arctic, so he ran his engines up at Fairbanks in Alaska where the temperature was hovering at 47°F below zero.
His original homestead has just been refurbished near Hallett, north of Burra. He became a famed pioneer aviator, the first to cross the Antarctic and overfly the Arctic. He later attempted to reach the North Pole by submarine. Sir Hubert Wilkins offered to sell his Fokker to a couple of daredevil Australians who were planning the impossible…the first air-crossing of the huge Pacific Ocean in 1928.
But "Smithy" (as Charlies Kingsford-Smith became known) and Charles Ulm were broke, and had they not been backed by a generous American entrepreneur, they would never have been able to take the controls of the plane they renamed "Southern Cross". Take off they did however, on that historic first and dangerous flight across the sea. Our takeoff from Parafield Airport in the Southern Cross Replica was the start of an exciting but decidedly more sedate "air adventure" over the city of Adelaide.
It is very appropriate that this is its home again, as it was conceived and built here by a former chief flying instructor, John Pope, who was aboard with the Postcards team. He gathered the funds and expertise for its construction at Parafield in the 1980's. It encountered several bumps and storms of the financial and ownership kind, until in 1997 the Federal Government gave it back to the South Australian Government.
It leases the plane to a volunteer association, and so now they can offer a magnificent air adventure to members. And anyone can join. With wonderful views over the city, and the dramatic sense of directly connecting with famous pioneer Aussie aviators and their plane, I'd definitely recommend it!!
It is very noisy on board the ten-seater however, and we wondered how it must have been enduring it for nine days as they crossed the Pacific, braving giant air pockets and rainstorms. Up here in the Replica, it made the original famous flight seem all the more incredible.
"Smithy" was a much loved larrikin hero - a World War I flying ace, a Hollywood barnstormer, and when he and Charles Ulm and their two American crew flew into Brisbane in 1928, huge crowds greeted these aviation giants. They were the Neil Armstrong's of their day, and three hundred thousand turned out for their triumphal arrival in Sydney.
As we cruised above the white sandy beaches of Adelaide our short flight was a magic window into the world of these pioneers who flew Southern Cross to so many records, including Smithy's first real circumnavigation of the globe later. Kingsford-Smith died off Burma in 1935, attempting a new London-Sydney record flight, and Ulm was similarly lost at sea. The original Southern Cross (which will never fly again) is housed at Brisbane airport.
This Southern Cross Replica flies in our skies as a salute to a plane and pilots central to the annals of aviation history. Thanks to a special Aviation Authority classification, you can experience the air adventure too! It is deemed an experimental plane, built to an American passenger standard, but not to today's commuter airline requirements. It is, after all, like a T-model Ford compared to the Falcon of today. Thanks to the Southern Cross Replica Association, it is lovingly maintained and flown, and if you want to join it - and fly in "The New Bus" from Parafield, the contact details are below.
It is a very special experience to fly over the city in our own living version of the legendary 1920's Southern Cross.
[Membership/Flight Costs are approximately $200.00 per person (at May 2001)]
Southern Cross Replica Association Inc.
Contact InformationGary McKernan (President) - Mobile: 0413-834-383
Lindsay Barton (Vice President, Chief Pilot)
3/15 Hampton Court, Wynn Vale. SA 5127
Ph: (08) 8251-7070
Fax: (08) 8251-7071
Mobile: 0409-695-119
Email: linbar@picknowl.com.auKeith Hewison (Coordinator SCR Fundraising Committee, Hon. Flight Engineer)
5/9 Jane Crescent, Salisbury. SA 5108
Ph: (08) 8281-0835 (home) (08) 8281-2677 (business)
Fax: (08) 8285-9299 (Bus. Hours)
Email: chaseaut@dove.net.auPostcards Flight Sponsors:
Thanks to Antelco and Famous Australian Aircraft Pty LtdWeekend Ground Display (Flights and Weather permitting) Parafield Airport
