Much had changed. Not only herself, now a more or less grown up 18-year-old, but the planes and Narromine itself. Gipsy and Tiger Moths were still flying, but every year more advanced machines were being designed and built, like the Anson Bomber. Metals like aluminium and steel were being used, rather than linen and wood, and machines big enough to carry increasing numbers of passengers were beginning to criss-cross the continent.
And even if there were still only a few of them, women like Nancy Bird were making a living as pilots.
She took a deep breath and went through the drill. “Switch on, petrol on …” The propeller burred, the engine caught and she taxied for take-off. For two hours she took up passengers, flying them around the town and then making as perfect a three-point landing as she could.
When she delivered Mr Irvine’s plane to him, she sighed loudly. “I think that’s enough for today, but I’ll be back tomorrow for more.”
“Taken any of the family up yet?”
“No, they’re waiting for tomorrow, I think.” Gran had helped Mum with dinner, as she was still a bit seedy after the flu, but didn’t stay. With all the children at home plus Jessica’s friend, Meg, it was a full table. Billy entertained Meg with family stories while they ate, choosing any that made Jessica blush.
Sunday was again a beautiful day (flyers, like farmers, are always interested in weather). At that time of year it usually was sunny and clear.
Jessica again set off early in the truck, with Meg and Billy, leaving Dad to bring Mum in the car later. Auntie Velia, Uncle Ted, Charles and their new daughter, Rosemary, were also coming.
Nobody mentioned what her grandparents intended. Jessica always tried to avoid the mention of planes to Grandfather so she could escape any row.
The display on Sunday morning was much the same as the day before (so Mum hadn’t missed much), but there were two new attractions, the air derby and Captain Mendham’s Autogyro, which flew straight upwards, with a kind of propeller on top. Unfortunately, it was only for show as the Civil Aviation Board had refused to allow it to fly ‘for safety reasons’.
Sixteen planes entered the air derby, including Jessica in Mr Grahame’s Moth. The derby was organised on a handicap basis and each plane had to travel three laps of a course of four miles, flying from the ‘drome to the golf course, turning north-east then flying across the river, then west to the windmill at the slaughter yards and finally turning east-south-east to the aerodrome.
When it was Jessica’s turn, she took off smoothly, doing her best to keep a steady speed and to be prepared for each turn. Her heart was pounding, her legs shaking as she set her mind on showing how well she could fly. “Nor-nor-east,” she muttered to herself, straightening the route to northeast and watching as the silver ribbon of the Macquarie River appeared under her starboard wings. “Now west to the windmill,” she found muttering out loud helped her to concentrate on everything. Usually she just aimed the plane in the general direction and kept her eye out for markers like towns, but for the derby every air mile mattered. The tighter her turns, the faster her time, so she tried to anticipate every step, slowing, speeding up, manipulating the stick and controlling the rudder.
The second and third laps were much easier and she encouraged the Moth into faster and neater turns. As she neared the aerodrome for the third time, she dropped the port wings as she circled to her landing, keeping her speed as high as she could and still land well. Her touchdown was a smidgeon bumpy and the engine screamed more than she wanted, but she quickly slowed and brought everything under control, coming to a smooth halt at the edge of the circle.
“Well done, girlie,” grinned Mr Grahame, as she clambered out of the plane, pulling her helmet and goggles off. Her face felt flushed with effort and she wished she’d made better speed and a more professional landing but it all went reasonably well, so she grinned back and stepped away from the plane, patting a lower wing in affection. It was a good little crate.
In a couple of seconds, she was surrounded by family, being kissed by Dad and hugged by Mum and cheered by the rest.
“You did well,” came a familiar voice and she looked up to see her grandparents standing behind the Gibsons. Her grandfather was actually smiling! She smiled tentatively back but he merely nodded and walked away to see his friend Mr McKillop.
Dad whispered in her ear, “That, my girl, was your grandfather’s form of high praise. Just recognise it and don’t ask for more.” Now she thought about it, Grandfather did show pride for his family — very occasionally and very sparingly — and while he might not approve of everything they did, doing it well was noticed.
Jessica’s time was not one of the fastest, but it was in the middle of the field. Tiger Moths from Broken Hill were first and second but Dick Perry came third in his Leopard Moth, to the great delight of the locals.
Then, as Jessica relaxed after her efforts, Captain Mendham took to the air in Jack Coomber’s home-built Corben monoplane, described by the Narromine News and Trangie Advocate as having ‘trim lines, excellent workmanship and ease of handling’.
It couldn’t do any aerobatics as again the Civil Aviation Board had forbidden ‘stunting’, much to the Aero Club’s disgust. They’d all seen Captain Mendham put it through its paces and thought the pageant audience deserved the same treat.
In the afternoon, joy flights were in great demand and Jessica was glad family members had booked up early. In the Gipsy Moths, she took up Billy and Meg, then Charles and Uncle Ted (Auntie Velia had opted out because of Rosemary, or so she said — Jessica suspected the machines still scared her) and finally, Mum, her last passenger for the day. She followed her customary circle route, over the town and its surrounds, but for the family, she also flew slowly over Argyle Station, quite low, so they could pick out whatever they wanted to see from the air.
She remembered her first sight of it from this angle, so very different from the ground, and she wanted them to understand what it was about flying that had so attracted her. Not just the feeling of being surrounded by air, with the icy wind whistling through, it was also about seeing the world from above.
As her mother climbed down, Jessica took off her helmet and shook her head to get the stiffness out of her neck. Next step, she thought, my own plane. She’d have to start planning. Her mother waited for her, her cheeks flushed and eyes sparkling. Jessica grinned. It was so good to see her cheerful after the last few weeks of illness.
Dad came over, trailing Billy and Meg. “All right, girls?” he asked, putting his arm around Mum and hugging her. They both beamed at him.
“I’ve had a wonderful time,” said Mum, “Argyle Station was amazing from the air. I might even go up again.”
“And me,” added Meg. “Now just all get over there with the plane behind and I’ll take a record of it all.”
“I wonder if there’ll be another air pageant?” asked Billy.
“Well,” said Jessica, “even if there isn’t, there’ll still be planes to fly.”
“And,” added Dad, “a pilot in the family to take us up.” They all nodded and grinned for Meg’s camera.
Author’s Note
While Jessica and her family are fictional, much of this story is true. The town of Narromine in New South Wales exists, as does its aerodrome, air pageants and Aero Club. The famous pilots mentioned are real and visited Narromine as they did in the story — from Ross Smith, Charles Kingsford Smith (and brothers), Lester Brain, Arthur Butler, Nancy Bird (Walton), and Jean Batten, to the pilots who demonstrated aerobatics at the pageants. The stars of the Aero Club are also real, particularly Tom Perry, and H Bowden Fletcher. In the Second World War, Narromine became a RAAF base and in the 1950s and 1960s it was a centre for night training for airline pilots. Today, Narromine is well known for gliding and its aeronautical museum, with the web address:
“http://www.narromineaviationmuseum.org.au”
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Girl with Wings Page 14