Hinkler and his Avro Avian

Herbert Hinkler AFC DSM (8 December 1892 – 8 January 1933) - better known as Bert Hinkler, was a pioneer Australian aviator. Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1200x941, 256 KB)Bert Hinkler and his Avro Avian 1928 1means the typographical arrangement and layout of a published work. ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1200x941, 256 KB)Bert Hinkler and his Avro Avian 1928 1means the typographical arrangement and layout of a published work. ... The Air Force Cross is a military decoration awarded to personnel of the United Kingdom Armed Forces, and formerly also to officers of the other Commonwealth countries, for an act or acts of valour, courage or devotion to duty whilst flying, though not in active operations against the enemy. The... The Distinguished Service Medal was (until 1993) a military decoration awarded to personnel of the Royal Navy (United Kingdom), and formerly also to personnel of the navies of other Commonwealth countries, up to and including the rank of Chief Petty Officer, for bravery and resourcefulness on active service. ... is the 342nd day of the year (343rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1892 (MDCCCXCII) was a leap year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian Calendar (or a leap year starting on Wednesday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... is the 8th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1933 (MCMXXXIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Hinkler was born in Bundaberg, Queensland, the son of a German-born stockman. In his early life, he constructed and flew gliders on beaches near his hometown. He became mechanic to H. Stone who gave some exhibition flights at Sydney. For the Bundaberg Distillery, see Bundaberg Rum. ... For other uses, see Glider (disambiguation). ... This article is about the metropolitan area in Australia. ...

In 1913, Hinkler went to England where he worked for the Sopwith Aviation Company. During the First World War, he served with the Royal Naval Air Service as a gunner/observer in Belgium and France, for which he was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal. In 1918 Hinkler was posted to No. 28 Squadron RAF with which he served as a pilot in Italy. For other uses, see England (disambiguation). ... The Sopwith Aviation Company was a British aircraft company that designed and manufactured aeroplanes mainly for the British Royal Flying Corps, Royal Naval Air Service and later Royal Air Force in the First World War, most famously the Sopwith Camel. ... “The Great War ” redirects here. ... Personnel of No 1 Squadron RNAS in late 1914 The Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) was the air arm of the Royal Navy until near the end of World War I, when it merged with the British Armys Royal Flying Corps (RFC) to form the Royal Air Force. ... The Distinguished Service Medal was (until 1993) a military decoration awarded to personnel of the Royal Navy (United Kingdom), and formerly also to personnel of the navies of other Commonwealth countries, up to and including the rank of Chief Petty Officer, for bravery and resourcefulness on active service. ... No. ...

After the war, he worked as a test pilot for the aircraft manufacturer A.V. Roe in Southampton. When the Australian government offered £10,000 as a prize for the first flight to Australia, Hinkler entered, but his machine crashed in Europe during a storm. Test pilots are aviators who fly new and modified aircraft in specific maneuvers, allowing the results to be measured and the design to be evaluated. ... Avro 504K. Avro was a British aircraft manufacturer, well known for planes such as the Avro Lancaster which served in World War II. One of the worlds first aircraft builders, A.V.Roe and Company was established at Brownsfield Mills, Manchester, England by Alliot Verdon Roe and his brother... For other uses, see Southampton (disambiguation). ...

In 1921, Hinkler shipped a tiny Avro Baby to Sydney. It was filled with fuel and flown non-stop to Bundaberg, Queensland, a distance of 1370 km. For the Bundaberg Distillery, see Bundaberg Rum. ...

During the 1920s he competed in numerous aviation events and created many records ie a non-stop flight from England to Latvia. He was a pilot of the British Schneider Trophy seaplane competitor. The Schneider Trophy The Schneider Trophy (or prize or cup) for seaplanes was announced by Jacques Schneider, a financier, balloonist and aircraft enthusiast, in 1911 with a prize of roughly £1,000. ...

He flew the first solo flight between England and Australia, departing England on 7 February 1928 and arriving in Darwin on 22 February 1928 and back in his hometown of Bundaberg, Queensland on 27 February 1928. This reduced the England-Australia record from 28 days to just under 15½ days. The aircraft used was an Avro Avian, registration G-EBOV. The flight was little noticed before Hinkler reached India but then media interest intensified. One paper nicknamed the flyer "Hustling Hinkler" and he was the subject of the Tin Pan Alley song Hustling Hinkler Up in the Sky. is the 38th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1928 (MCMXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Port Darwin redirects here. ... is the 53rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1928 (MCMXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... For the Bundaberg Distillery, see Bundaberg Rum. ... is the 58th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1928 (MCMXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Avro Avian was a series of British light aircraft designed and built by Avro in the 1920s and 30s. ...

He is quoted as telling Australian Prime Minister Stanley Bruce at this time You know, one day, people will fly by night and use the daylight for sightseeing. (In 1998 Australian Lang Kidby recreated this flight in a similar 1927 Avro Avian). After visiting the principal cities of Australia and returning to England, he was awarded the Air Cross for the finest aerial exploit of the year. The current (25th) Prime Minister of Australia, John Howard (sitting, fifth from left), with his Cabinet, 1999 The office of Prime Minister is in practice the most powerful political office in the Commonwealth of Australia. ... Stanley Melbourne Bruce, 1st Viscount Bruce of Melbourne, CH, MC, FRS, PC (15 April 1883–25 August 1967), Australian politician and diplomat, was the eighth Prime Minister of Australia. ...

In 1931 he did his most remarkable feat. He flew in a de Havilland Puss Moth from Canada to New York then non-stop to Jamaica 2400 km (1500 miles), then to Venezuela, Guyana, Brazil, and then across the South Atlantic to Africa; this part of the journey was done in extremely bad weather, but despite a tearing gale and practically no visibility for part of the way because of low and heavy clouds, he drifted a comparatively small distance off his course. From West Africa he flew to London. For this he was awarded the Segrave Trophy, the Johnston memorial prize, and the Britannia trophy for the most meritorious flying performance of the year. This was the first solo flight across the South Atlantic. He was only the second person to cross the Atlantic solo, after Charles Lindbergh. The De Havilland Puss Moth is a three seater aeroplane designed in 1929 and used by Britain during the second world war mainly for communications. ... This article is about the state. ... Portrait of Sir Henry Segrave (ca. ... The Atlantic Ocean, not including Arctic and Antarctic regions. ... Charles Augustus Lindbergh (4 February 1902 – 26 August 1974), known as Lucky Lindy and The Lone Eagle, was an American pilot famous for the first solo, non-stop flight across the Atlantic, from Roosevelt Field, Long Island to Paris in 1927 in the Spirit of St. ...

On 7 January 1933, Hinkler left Feltham aerodrome, England, in the Puss Moth in an attempt to break the flying record to Australia of 8 days 10 hours. Nothing more was heard of him until his body was discovered in the Tuscan Mountains in Italy. His plane had crashed into the mountains, probably on 8 January 1933. He was buried, with full military honours on Mussolini's orders, in the Protestant cemetery at Florence. A monument in his memory was erected at Passo Della Vacche in the Pratomagno Alps by the Aretino Aero Club. He was married and his wife survived him. is the 7th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1933 (MCMXXXIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... , Feltham is a suburban town in the London Borough of Hounslow. ... is the 8th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1933 (MCMXXXIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Mussolini redirects here. ... This article is about the city in Italy. ...

Hinkler was more than a great airman, he was a fine mechanic with a fertile brain continually throwing up ideas which were often given to his employers, and his engines frequently had gadgets of his own invention. He had little business sense and never made any real attempt to exploit his capabilities. He was thoroughly courageous without being reckless, and was successful in his most amazing feats because he was practically faultless as a pilot, and knew exactly what he and his machines could do.

Honours

• Hinkler Road and Pub in Thornhill, Hampshire, England are named after him.
• Hinkler Crescent, once a taxiway for the original Darwin Aerodrome, Fannie Bay, Darwin, NT, Australia is named after Bert Hinkler and has a commemorative plaque in the pavement.
• The federal electorate of Hinkler, in Queensland, is named after him.

Thornhill is a suburb in the city of Southampton, United Kingdom. ... A taxiway is a strip of land on an airport on which aircraft can roll (taxi) to or from a hangar, terminal, runway, or other facility. ... Trailer Boat Club, Fannie Bay, Darwin Fannie Bay is a middle/inner suburb of the city of Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia. ... NT may mean: Places and geographical terms: Netherlands Antilles: FIPS PUB 10-4 territory code New Territories, an area of land in Hong Kong Iraq-Saudi Arabia Neutral Zone: ISO 3166 digram (obsolete since 1993; although divided by treaty in 1981, this was never filed with the UN or any... The Division of Hinkler is an Australian Electoral Division in Queensland. ...

Relic survives the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster

A small piece of wood, a relic from one Hinkler's hand-made gliders, was presented to the U.S. astronaut Don Lind in early 1986 as a token of appreciation for his coming to Bundaberg to contribute to the Hinkler Memorial Lectures. Lind in turn gave it to Dick Scobee, the captain of the ill-fated final Challenger mission. Scobee took the wood with him on board the Challenger, inside a small plastic bag that he placed in his locker. After the explosion, the bag and the wood were recovered from the sea, identified, mounted, and later returned to the Hinkler Memorial Museum. [1] [2] [3]. For further information about Challengers mission and crew, see STS-51-L. The iconic image of Space Shuttle Challengers smoke plume after its breakup 73 seconds after launch. ... Don Leslie Lind is a former NASA astronaut who was born in Midvale, Utah on May 18, 1930. ... Francis Richard Dick Scobee (May 19, 1939 - January 28, 1986) was an American astronaut who died commanding the Space Shuttle Challenger, which suffered catastrophic booster failure during launch of the STS-51-L mission. ...

External links

• Bert Hinkler - Australian Aviator
• Bert Hinkler - Hinkler Memorial Museum website
• Bert Hinkler Commemorative Medal
• Bert Hinkler online collection - State Library of NSW
• HistoryNet picture of the day 7 February 2008

References

• Serle, Percival (1949). "Hinkler, Herbert John Louis". Dictionary of Australian Biography. Sydney: Angus and Robertson. 
• E. P. Wixted, 'Hinkler, Herbert John Louis (Bert) (1892 - 1933)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 9, MUP, 1983, pp 305-307.

• This article incorporates text from the public domain 1949 edition of Dictionary of Australian Biography from Project Gutenberg of Australia, which is in the public domain in Australia and the United States of America.