Tasmanian Airways Pty. Ltd. was a Hobart, Tasmania-based company registered on 10 December 1926 with the intention of operating aerial services between Tasmania and Victoria.
Its main proprietor was F. F. De Mey, who was also proprietor of Tasmanian Motor Service Co. Pty. Ltd. and President of the Commercial Motor Users Association of Tasmania. [1] Two years later it proposed to open a Bass Strait service using a three-engine floatplane (possibly an Avro 618 Ten). [2] It failed attract sufficient capital, but in 1929 chartered a De Havilland Gipsy Moth for a promotional flight from Adelaide to Brisbane. [3] Early in 1934 it acquired a De Havilland Hawk Moth VH-UNW from the Hart Aircraft Service. [4] Renamed City of Hobart, this aircraft was initially used for joy flights out of Brighton, Tasmania but from August 1934 operated a regular passenger service between Brighton and Launceston, Tasmania connecting with Tasmanian Aerial Service's Launceston-Bass Strait Islands-Melbourne services. These ceased on 10 January 1935, after a piston-rod failure damaged City of Hobart 's engine beyond repair and resulted in a forced landing at Brighton. The engineless aircraft was sold in mid-1936, and the company was later liquidated. [5]
This is a list of aviation-related events from 1934:
The de Havilland Express, also known as the de Havilland D.H.86, was a four-engined passenger aircraft manufactured by the de Havilland Aircraft Company between 1934 and 1937.
The Bass Strait Triangle is the waters that separate the states of Victoria and Tasmania, including Bass Strait, in south-eastern Australia. The term Bass Strait Triangle appears to have been first used following the disappearance of Frederick Valentich in 1978 although the region had a bad reputation long before that.
The Cirrus and Hermes or Cirrus-Hermes are a series of British aero engines manufactured, under various changes of ownership, from the 1920s until the 1950s. The engines were all air-cooled, four-cylinder inline types, with earlier ones upright and later designs inverted.
Australian National Airways (ANA) was Australia's predominant aerial carrier from the mid-1930s to the early 1950s.
TheMercury is a daily newspaper, published in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia, by Davies Brothers Pty Ltd, a subsidiary of News Corp Australia, itself a subsidiary of News Corp. The weekend issues of the paper are called Mercury on Saturday and Sunday Tasmanian. The current editor of TheMercury is Craig Warhurst.
Burnie Airport, also called Burnie Wynyard Airport or Wynyard Airport, is a regional airport located adjacent to the town of Wynyard, about 17 kilometres (11 mi) west from Burnie, Tasmania, Australia. Formally named the Wynyard Aerodrome, the first official opening occurred on 26 February 1934. The Burnie Airport is majority owned by the Burnie City Council.
The de Havilland DH.60 Moth is a 1920s British two-seat touring and training aircraft that was developed into a series of aircraft by the de Havilland Aircraft Company.
The DH.83 Fox Moth was a successful small biplane passenger aircraft from the 1930s powered by a single de Havilland Gipsy Major I inline inverted engine, manufactured by the de Havilland Aircraft Company.
Australian National Airways, Ltd. (ANA) was a short-lived Australian airline, founded on 3 January 1929 by Charles Kingsford Smith and Charles Ulm.
The Avro Avian is a series of British light aircraft designed and built by Avro in the 1920s and 1930s. While the various versions of the Avian were sound aircraft, they were comprehensively outsold by the de Havilland Moth and its descendants.
The de Havilland DH.75 Hawk Moth was a 1920s British four-seat cabin monoplane built by de Havilland at Stag Lane Aerodrome, Edgware.
The Saro A.21 Windhover was a British amphibious aircraft from the period between World War I and World War II, constructed by Saunders-Roe, or Saro. It was originally advertised as the A.19 Thermopylae after the famous clipper ship, being an enlarged version of the Saro Cutty Sark.
Seaplane Squadron was a flying unit of the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) between the wars. It operated Supermarine Southampton flying boats from January 1928, as well as other types. Along with Fighter Squadron, Seaplane Squadron was a component of No. 1 Flying Training School, based at RAAF Point Cook, Victoria. Seaplane Squadron was responsible for coastal reconnaissance, training aircrew to operate seaplanes, and supporting the Royal Australian Navy. It also conducted survey flights over remote parts of Australia and mapped the Darwin–Sydney section of the Empire Air Mail Scheme route. Seaplane Squadron was disbanded in June 1939.
Captain Eric Douglas Cummings was an Australian World War I flying ace credited with nine aerial victories while flying for the Australian Flying Corps. Postwar, he was an integral part of fund-raising campaigns to care for his fellow Australian military veterans. He then served in the Royal Air Force reserves until reactivated for service during World War II.
No. 7 Elementary Flying Training School was a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) pilot training unit that operated during World War II. It was established in August 1940 at Western Junction Aerodrome, Tasmania, and provided introductory flying training to new RAAF pilots. Training activities ceased in December 1944, and the unit was disbanded in August the next year.
Frank Neale, AFC was a British-born Australian aviator. Born in England, he served in the Royal Flying Corps and the Royal Air Force during the First World War, then moved to Australia in the mid-1920s to continue a notable career as a pioneer aviator. From 1925 until 1939 he flew thousands of hours covering most of Australia, and ventured overseas a number of times. At the outbreak of the Second World War he joined the Royal Australian Air Force Reserve, rising to wing commander and being awarded the Air Force Cross prior to his discharge in 1946.
Queenstown Airport is an aerodrome located at Howard's Plains west of Queenstown, Tasmania, Australia. Formerly a commercial airport, the aerodrome no longer receives regular passenger services, but is maintained by the West Coast Council for a variety of aviation and non-aviation related uses.
Hereward de Havilland was a pioneer British aviator, test pilot and member of the de Havilland company. One of the three sons of Rev. Charles de Havilland, he was the younger brother of Geoffrey de Havilland. Actresses Olivia de Havilland and Joan Fontaine were his cousins. He had a son Peter Adam de Havilland and grandchildren John and Joanna de Havilland.
Hart Aircraft Service Pty. Ltd. was an Australian aviation company registered at Melbourne in mid-1929 with directors James Hart, John Hider and Norman Charles Trescowthick. Director James Hart (c1891-1951) was a former Royal Flying Corp aviator who had flown as gunner for Hereward de Havilland. Norman Trescowthick had served with distinction in the Australian Flying Corps' famous 4th Squadron with Arthur H. Cobby during the First World War.