List of Bass Strait crossings by air

This is a list of notable first crossings of Bass Strait by air.

First crossings

Date	Crossing	Participant(s)	Aircraft	Departure point Arrival point	Notes
17 December 1919	First aeroplane	Arthur Leonard Long	Boulton Paul P.9 biplane	Stanley, Tasmania Torquay, Victoria	Long carried 50 letters, making that the first airmail sent across Bass Strait. [1]
28 April 1928	First woman	Jessie Miller	Avro Avian	Essendon, Victoria Launceston, Tasmania	As passenger. Aircraft was piloted by Capt W.N. Lancaster. They had previously completed a six-month long journey in the Avian, travelling from Croydon, England to Australia. [2]
4 January 1936	First autogyro	C. Gatenby and Capt J.M. Burgess [3]	Cierva C.30A	Victoria Smithton, Tasmania
02 December 1949	First jet	Plt Off Brian Goy	RAAF de Havilland Vampire	Victoria Tasmania	[4]
10 January 1958	First helicopter	Capt Max Holyman and Les Taylor (engineer)	Bristol Sycamore	Melbourne, Victoria Launceston, Tasmania	Non-stop crossing. Previous helicopter crossings required refueling stops. [5]
1 May 1981	First balloon	Phil White, Gary Geier and Arnold Himson	hydrogen balloon	Winchelsea, Victoria Smithton, Tasmania	Collided with high-voltage powerlines when landing. [6] [7]

References

1. Parnell & Boughton 1988, p. 38.
2. Parnell & Boughton 1988, p. 69–70.
3. Parnell & Boughton 1988, p. 128.
4. "Jet Fighter's Speed Thrills Crowd". The Mercury. Hobart, TAS. 3 December 1949. p. 2. Retrieved 13 April 2025.
5. "Helicopter non-stop across Bass Strait". The Canberra Times. Canberra, ACT. 10 January 1958. p. 13. Retrieved 17 January 2025.
6. "Australia: Balloonist making first-ever flight across turbulent Bas Straits to Tasmania, crash-land after hitting power lines". British Pathé. 1981. Retrieved 17 January 2025.
7. "Balloonists likely to be billed". The Canberra Times. Canberra, ACT. 3 May 1981. p. 3. Retrieved 17 January 2025.

Works Cited

• Parnell, Neville; Boughton, Trevor (1988). Flypast: A Record of Aviation in Australia. Australian Government Pub. Service. ISBN   9780644079181 . Retrieved 17 January 2025.

See also

• List of Cook Strait crossings by air
• List of English Channel crossings by air
• List of Irish Sea crossings by air