There and Back dedicated to Aviation, Airmanship and the Craft of Flying - by Owen Zupp & Robert Brus

Wartime experience and the technical development of aircraft made it obvious that air power had become an essential element in any military equation. In Australia negotiations between Army, Navy and Defence officials from 1917 to 1921 resulted in the Australian Air Force being formed on 31 March 1921, with approval to use the ‘Royal’ prefix [...]

In 1919 the Australian Prime Minister Billy Hughes announced the now famous ‘AIR RACE’. A prize of £10,000 was to be awarded for the first machine to fly from London to Australia in 30 days or less. Taking up the challenge, Ross Smith applied to the British company Vickers to supply a Vickers Vimy bomber [...]