Charles Kingsford Smith and Those Magnificent Men

by P Fitzsimons

  11http://www.homeofheroes.com/wings/part1/7_lindbergh.html

  12Sufrin, Mark, The Brave Men: Twelve Portraits of Courage, Platt & Munk, New York, 1967, p. 258.

  13Cross, op. cit., p. 59.

  14Montague, Richard, Oceans, Poles and Airmen: The First Flights Over Wide Waters and Desolate Ice, Random House, New York, 1971, p. 53.

  15Berg, op. cit., 110.

  16ibid., p. 113.

  17‘Lindbergh Leaves New York at 7:52 A.M.’, New York Times, 21 May 1927.

  18http://www.charleslindbergh.com/hall/spirit.asp

  19‘Lindbergh Leaves New York at 7:52 A.M.’, New York Times, 21 May 1927.

  20ibid.

  21‘Hometown Eager for News as Lindbergh Speeds Over the Sea’, New York Times, 21 May 1927.

  22Berg, op. cit., p. 122.

  23‘Young Pilot Speeds on Towards Paris In the Night’, Los Angeles Times, 21 May 1927.

  24‘Lindbergh Flies Alone’, Sun (New York), 21 May 1927.

  25Lindbergh, Charles Augustus, The Spirit of St. Louis, Tandem Publishing, London, 1975, p. 224.

  26Ross, Walter Sanford, The Last Hero: Charles A. Lindbergh, Manor Books, New York, 1974, p. 117.

  27http://www.charleslindbergh.com/mystory/index.asp

  28http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,989136-1,00.html

  29‘Welcome to Flyer Puts 10 in Hospital’, Chicago Daily Tribune, 23 May 1927.

  30Lindbergh, op. cit., p. 247.

  31‘New York–Paris Flight, Capt. Lindbergh’s Lone Voyage’, The Times, 23 May 1927.

  32Cross, op. cit., p. 82.

  33Ives, Stephen (director), The American Experience—Lindbergh, Insignia Films, USA, 1990.

  34Berg, op. cit., p. 139.

  35Elliott, Brian A., Blériot: Herald of an Age, Tempus Publishing, Gloucestershire, 2000, p. 226.

  36ibid.

  37Berg, op. cit., p. 148.

  38Ives, op. cit., 1990.

  39‘Lindbergh Crowd Shatters Record’, New York Times, 12 June 1927.

  40Cross, op. cit., p. 90.

  41‘Atlantic Flights, Lindbergh’s Achievement’, Argus, 25 May 1927.

  42‘America to Australia, Lindbergh’s Next Plan’, Argus, 23 May 1927.

  43‘Lindbergh’s Great Flight’, Sydney Morning Herald, 23 May 1927.

  44‘Aviation Round Australia Flight’, Sydney Morning Herald, 20 June 1927.

  45‘No Sign of Keith Anderson: Anxiety Deepens’, Daily Guardian, 12 April 1929.

  46ibid.

  47Cogger, Percy, Wings and the Man—the Private Papers of Charles Ulm, Aviator, unpublished manuscript, Mitchell Library, Sydney.

  48‘Round Australia’, Sydney Morning Herald, 30 June 1927.

  49‘Welcome Back. Sun’s Lunch to Airmen’, Sun (Sydney) 30 June 1927.

  50ibid.

  51‘Endurance Epic’, Sun, 30 June 1927. These are the words used by Kingsford Smith and Ulm to a Sun journalist on the same day as the luncheon, and may be assumed to be close to the account that Kingsford Smith gave to the gathering of their adventures.

  Chapter Ten: The Tough Get Going

  1Stannage, John, Smithy, Oxford University Press, London, 1950, p. 76.

  2Kingsford Smith, Sir Charles, My Flying Life: An Authentic Biography Prepared under the Personal Supervision of and from the Diaries and Papers of the Late Sir Charles Kingsford-Smith, Andrew Melrose, London, 1937, p. 25.

  3‘Pioneer Pacific Fliers Wrote Tragic Chapter In Air History’, San Francisco Call-Bulletin, 10 October 1955.

  4Joy, William, The Aviators, Shakespeare Head Press, Sydney, 1971, p. 68.

  5Kingsford Smith, Sir Charles, The Old Bus, Herald Press, Melbourne, 1932, p. 9.

  6Stannage, op. cit, p. 23.

  7ibid.

  8Wilkins, Hubert, letter to a Mr Byrne, sent from New York City, 29 October 1936.

  9Courtwright, David T., Sky as Frontier: Adventure, Aviation and Empire (Centennial of Flight Series), Texas A & M University Press, USA, 2005, p. 80.

  10Lindbergh, Charles A., Of Flight and Life, Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1948, p. 118.

  11Lindbergh, Charles A., Charles A. Lindbergh: Autobiography of Values, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, New York, 1977, p. 118.

  12Ives, Stephen (director), The American Experience—Lindbergh, Insignia Films, USA, 1990.

  13Cross, James Giblin, Charles A. Lindbergh: A Human Hero, Clarion Books, New York, 1997, p. 176.

  14Wilkins, op. cit.

  15‘Speakeasies Then and Now’, San Francisco Chronicle, 16 December 2007.

  16Kingsford Smith, Sir Charles E. and Ulm, Charles T.P., The Great Trans-Pacific Flight: The Story of the ‘Southern Cross’, Hutchinson, London, 1928, p. 48.

  17ibid., p. 49.

  18Sheil, Beau, Caesar of the Skies: The Life Story of Sir Charles Kingsford Smith, Cassell, London, 1937, p. 68.

  19McNally, Ward, The Man on the Twenty Dollar Note: Sir Charles Kingsford-Smith, A & A Reed, Sydney, 1976, p. 60.

  20ibid.

  21Wixted, Edward P., The Life and Times of Sir Charles Kingsford Smith: An Illustrated Chronology, private source, Queensland, 1996, p. 48.

  22‘Our Conquest of the Pacific’, National Geographic, October 1928.

  23Kingsford Smith, My Flying Life, op. cit., p. 132.

  24Stannage, op. cit., p. 26.

  25ibid., p. 8.

  26‘Californians Face Failure, Fuel Low, but Keep on Flying’, Chicago Daily Tribune, 19 January 1928.

  27McNally, Ward, Smithy: The Kingsford-Smith Story, Robert Hale, London, 1966, p. 51f.

  28Kingsford Smith, The Old Bus, op. cit., p. 15.

  29‘Vain Vigil at Trentham’, The Evening Post, 11 January 1928.

  30‘Flyers Try Again for New Record’, Los Angeles Times, 18 January 1928.

  31Kingsford Smith, The Old Bus, op. cit., p. 17.

  32Kingsford Smith, My Flying Life, op. cit., p. 36.

  33ibid., p. 37.

  34‘The Trans-Pacific Flight, Being the Saga of the Southern Cross’, Liberty Magazine, 19 April 1930.

  35Mackenzie, Roy D., Solo: The Bert Hinkler Story, Ure Smith, Sydney, 1979, p. 64.

  36Lex, Rowland via Hinkler House Memorial Museum Bundaberg, quoting an interview Hinkler gave to a Bundaberg newspaper at the conclusion of his flight.

  37Mackenzie, op. cit., p. 79.

  38ibid., p. 78.

  39ibid., p. 83.

  40ibid., p. 94.

  41‘Conquerors of the Pacific’, Sydney Mail, 13 June 1928.

  42Mackenzie, op. cit., p. 78.

  43Kingsford Smith, The Old Bus, op. cit., p. 20.

  44Clover, Sam T., A Pioneer Heritage, Saturday Night Publishing Co., Los Angeles, 1932, p. 101.

  45ibid., p. 102.

  46Stannage, op. cit., p. 31f.

  47The actual figure is difficult to determine. Kingsford Smith’s account in The Old Bus (op. cit., p. 21) and My Flying Life (op. cit., p. 40) places the figure at £3200.00. In his biography of Kingsford Smith, Smithy (op. cit., p. 32), John Stannage has the figure at $20,000. It is, however, in memoirs that Ulm puts it at $16,000, and in terms of their subsequent expenditure, that seems to fit best.

  48Kingsford Smith, The Old Bus, op. cit., p. 21.

  49‘Harry Lyon and The Southern Cross’, American Aviation Historical Society Journal, Winter 1979 (Vol. 24, Issue 4).

  50ibid.

  51‘The Trans-Pacific Flight, Being the Saga of the Southern Cross’, Liberty Magazine, 19 April 1930.

  52‘Jim Warner Radioman’, American Aviation Historical Society Journal, Summer 1983 (Vol. 28, Issue 2).

  53Swinton, Stuart, P.G. Taylor: The Last of the Great Air Pioneers—A Personal Tribute From Stuart Swinton, Australian Military History Publications, Loftus, New South Wales, 2006, p. 16.

  54‘Harry Lyon and The Southern Cross’, American Aviation Historical Society Journal, Winter 1979 (Vol. 24, Issue 4).

  55Sprigg, C. St John, Great Flights, Thomas Nelson & Sons, London, 1936, p. 140. />
  56Davis, Pedr, Charles Kingsford Smith: Smithy, The World’s Greatest Aviator, Lansdowne Press, Sydney, 1985, p. 50.

  57McNally, The Man on the Twenty Dollar Note, op. cit., p. 72.

  58‘Harry Lyon and The Southern Cross’, American Aviation Historical Society Journal, Winter 1979 (Vol. 24, Issue 4).

  59‘Plane Ready For Longest Ocean Hop’, San Francisco Chronicle, 31 May 1928.

  60Kingsford Smith, C.E. and Ulm, C.T.P., Story of ‘Southern Cross’ Trans-Pacific Flight 1928, Penlington & Somerville, Sydney 1928, p. 227.

  61Sealby, Winifred Kingsford, Recollections: Personal and Scenic; Our Dumb Friends, (Australian Library Collections, Record ID 5583222), 1951, p. 10.

  62‘The Trans-Pacific Flight, Being the Saga of the Southern Cross’, Liberty Magazine, 19 April 1930.

  Chapter Eleven: Across the Pacific…

  1‘Oaklands Take Off: Fliers Hit an Air Pocket Half Way Across Pacific, Escape Disaster and Go On’, New York Times, 1 June 1928.

  2‘Arrival in Sydney’, Argus, 11 June 1928.

  3‘The Trans-Pacific Flight: Being the Saga of the Southern Cross’, Liberty Magazine, 19 April 1930.

  4‘Pacific Airplane Seized for Debt’, New York Times, 6 November 1934.

  5‘Oaklands Take Off: Fliers Hit an Air Pocket Half Way Across Pacific, Escape Disaster and Go On’, New York Times, 1 June 1928.

  6‘Harry Lyon and The Southern Cross’, American Aviation Historical Society Journal, Winter 1979 (Vol. 24, Issue 4).

  7‘Oaklands Take Off: Fliers Hit an Air Pocket Half Way Across Pacific, Escape Disaster and Go On’, New York Times, 1 June 1928.

  8‘Harry Lyon and The Southern Cross’, American Aviation Historical Society Journal, Winter 1979 (Vol. 24, Issue 4).

  9Taylor, Sir Gordon, ‘Kingsford Smith as I Remember Him’, Sir Hudson Fysh Papers, Mitchell Library, ML MSS 2413, Box 10, K21829, ca. 1817-1974.

  10http://www.sl.nsw.gov.au/discover_collections/history_nation/aviation/crossing_oceans/smithy.html

  11Kingsford Smith, Sir Charles, The Old Bus, Herald Press, Melbourne, 1932, p. 29.

  12‘Our Conquest of the Pacific’, National Geographic, October 1928.

  13‘Conquerors of the Pacific’, Sydney Mail, 13 June 1928.

  14‘Our Conquest of the Pacific’, National Geographic, October 1928.

  15‘Life of Thrills: “Smithy” as Pal, The Man in the Air’, Sun, 10 December 1935.

  16Kingsford Smith, Sir Charles, My Flying Life: An Authentic Biography Prepared under the Personal Supervision of and from the Diaries and Papers of the Late Sir Charles Kingsford-Smith, Andrew Melrose, London, 1937, p. 48.

  17Kingsford Smith, The Old Bus, op. cit., p. 29.

  18‘Our Conquest of the Pacific’, National Geographic, October 1928.

  19‘The Trans-Pacific Flight, Being the Saga of the Southern Cross’, Liberty Magazine, 19 April 1930.

  20‘My Co-Pilot was Called Death’, Liberty Magazine, 28 December 1935.

  21ibid.

  22Kingsford Smith, The Old Bus, op. cit., 1932, p. 30.

  23‘Conquerors of the Pacific’, Sydney Mail, 13 June 1928.

  24‘The Trans-Pacific Flight, Being the Saga of the Southern Cross’, Liberty Magazine, 19 April 1930.

  25‘Arrival at Honolulu’, Argus, 4 June 1928.

  26‘Fliers Cross Pacific in 27 Hours, Reach Hawaii with Fuel Supply Low, Call it a Perfect Trip, No Trouble’, New York Times, 2 June 1928.

  27‘The Trans-Pacific Flight, Being the Saga of the Southern Cross’, Liberty Magazine, 19 April 1930.

  28ibid.

  29‘Southern Cross on the Wing’, Canberra Times, 2 June 1928.

  30‘Four Left Kauai at Dawn’, New York Times, 4 June 1928.

  31ibid.

  32‘The Trans-Pacific Flight, Being the Saga of the Southern Cross’, Liberty Magazine, 19 April 1930.

  33‘My Co-Pilot was Called Death’, Liberty Magazine, 28 December 1935.

  34‘Four left Kauai at Dawn’, New York Times, 4 June 1928.

  35Kingsford Smith, The Old Bus, op. cit., p. 27.

  36Purvis, Harry and Priest, Joan, Outback Airman, Rigby, Adelaide, 1979, p. 6.

  37Kingsford Smith, The Old Bus, op. cit., p. 40.

  38Wixted, Edward P., The Life and Times of Sir Charles Kingsford Smith: An Illustrated Chronology, private source, Queensland, 1996, p. 62.

  39Author’s calculations only, based on how many strokes of the pump it would normally have taken to move that many gallons.

  40Mackersey, Ian, Smithy: The Life of Sir Charles Kingsford Smith, Little, Brown, London, 1999, p. 152.

  41ibid.

  42‘The Trans-Pacific Flight, Being the Saga of the Southern Cross’, Liberty Magazine, 19 April 1930.

  43‘Our Conquest of the Pacific’, National Geographic, October 1928.

  44‘Suva Landing Spectacular’, New York Times, 6 June 1928.

  45‘Airmen Reach Suva’, Argus, 6 June 1928.

  46Mackersey, op. cit., p. 154f.

  47‘Americans Play Quit at Suva’, Washington Post, 6 June 1928.

  48Kingsford Smith, The Old Bus, op. cit., p. 45.

  49‘Suva Landing Spectacular’, New York Times, 6 June 1928.

  50Australian Hansard, National Library of Australia, Canberra, 5 June 1928.

  51ibid.

  52ibid.

  53‘A World Record’, Chicago Daily Tribune, 5 June 1928.

  54‘Airmen Reach Suva’, Argus, 6 June 1928.

  55Mackersey, op. cit., p. 157.

  56ibid.

  57‘Pacific Fliers Off for Australia on 1,762 Mile Hop from Fiji Isles’, New York Times, 7 June 1928.

  58ibid.

  59‘The Trans-Pacific Flight, Being the Saga of the Southern Cross’, Liberty Magazine, 19 April 1930.

  60ibid.

  61ibid.

  62‘Fliers Off to Australia after Delay on Fueling’, New York Times, 8 June 1928.

  63Sheil, Beau, Caesar of the Skies: The Life Story of Sir Charles Kingsford Smith, Cassell, Sydney, 1937, p. 79.

  64Kingsford Smith, The Old Bus, op. cit., p. 51.

  65‘Sea Flyers Battle Storms’, Chicago Daily Tribune, 8 June 1928.

  66Sheil, op. cit., p. 79.

  67‘Fliers Off to Australia after Delay on Fueling’, New York Times, 8 June 1928.

  68‘Story Minute by Minute’, Argus, 9 June 1928

  69Kingsford Smith, The Old Bus, op. cit., p. 54.

  70‘Our Conquest of the Pacific’, National Geographic, October 1928.

  71Sprigg, C. St John, Great Flights, Thomas Nelson & Sons, London, 1936, p. 31.

  72‘Our Conquest of the Pacific’, National Geographic, October 1928.

  73Kingsford Smith, The Old Bus, op. cit., p. 38.

  74‘The Trans-Pacific Flight, Being the Saga of the Southern Cross’, Liberty Magazine, 19 April 1930.

  75ibid.

  76ibid.

  77‘Southern Cross Talks on Way to Brisbane’, The Herald, 8 June 1928.

  78‘Our Conquest of the Pacific’, National Geographic, October 1928.

  79‘Flyers Wildly Cheered on Reaching Australia’, Los Angeles Times, 9 June 1928.

  80‘How our Fliers Won Through’, Herald, 9 June 1928.

  81Kingsford Smith, The Old Bus, op. cit., p. 57.

  82‘Arrival Brisbane’, Argus, 11 June 1928.

  83Ellison, Norman, Flying Matilda: Early Days in Australian Aviation, Angus & Robertson, Sydney, 1957, p. 133.

  84‘Arrival Brisbane’, Argus, 11 June 1928.

  85ibid.

  86ibid.

  87‘Government Behind Future Flights’, Sydney Morning Herald, 16 June 1928.

  88‘Civic Reception’, Sydney Morning Herald, 11 June 1928.

  89Sydney Morning Herald, 9 June 1928.

  90Ellison, op. cit., p. 297.

  91Clover, Sam T., A Pioneer Heritage, Saturday Night Publishing Company, Los Angeles, 1932, p. 103.

  92‘Coolidge Praises Fliers for “Courageous P
ioneering”’, New York Times, 9 June 1928.

  93Kingsford Smith, Elsie, account of her brother’s life, Ellison Collection, National Library of Australia, Canberra.

  94‘Sydney Goes Wild over Ocean Fliers’, New York Times, 11 June 1928.

  95‘Epic Trans Pacific Flight Ended’, Canberra Times, 11 June 1928.

  96Joy, William, The Aviators, Shakespeare Head Press, Sydney, 1971, p. 67.

  97‘Sydney Goes Wild over Ocean Fliers’, New York Times, 11 June 1928.

  98ibid.

  99Davis, Pedr, Kookaburra: The Most Compelling Story in Australia’s Aviation History, Lansdowne Press, Sydney, 1980, p. 10.

  100‘Epic Trans Pacific Flight Ended’, Canberra Times, 11 June 1928.

  101Joy, op. cit., p. 66.

  102Stannage, John, Smithy, Oxford University Press, London, 1950, p. 50.

  Chapter Twelve: The Urge to Elsewhere…