HISTORY OF AVIATION IN VICTORIA

1850’s

The first flight in Australia by balloon was in Victoria on 1 February 1858, the balloon was constructed by H Coxwell in Tottenham in the UK, and imported by George Coppin, manager of Melbourne’s Theatre Royal, it was a 40 ft diameter balloon of varnished fabric with a capacity of 31,000 cu ft of gas. It was partly inflated by the Melbourne Gas Company and then transferred by horse and cart to Cremorne Gardens near Richmond where inflation was completed. A valve was leaking and there was only sufficient lift for one person, William Dean who had previous experience lifted off at 5.52pm and about 6.30pm descended somewhere near Heidelberg. On 15 February 1858 at 6.48pm Dean ascended to an estimated 10,000 ft, and later descended onto the road between Collingwood and Brunswick Stockade. On 25 March 1858 Dean and Brown made the first ascent at night, lit fireworks beneath the passenger “car”, ascended to an estimated altitude of 10,000 ft, traveled 40 or 50 miles in various directions as the wind shifted and finally descended in Springvale

Henri L’Estrange inflated his balloon “Aurora” at the Melbourne Agricultural showgrounds on 14 April 1879 and lifted off at 3.40pm, rising rapidly to an estimated 9,000 ft, where owing to a miscalculation of gas expansion, the side of the balloon ruptured. a silk parachute attached to the centre of the balloon opened, and despite splits in several places slowed his decent while he jettisoned any objects in the basket, and landed in a Fir tree at the rear of Government House; this is the first record of survival by a parachute in Australia.

1900 - 1910

By March 1910, Houdini had his aircraft at Diggers Rest, outside Melbourne, along with Ralph Banks, an American, who had brought a Wright Flyer down from Sydney. Banks was determined to beat Houdini into the air and attempted a flight on 1st March, only to have a sharp gust of wind cause his aircraft to dive into the ground after take off, smashing it completely; Banks escaped with minor injuries.

Houdini’s other competitor was a Bleriot monoplane, which had been purchased by an Adelaide businessman who had visited Europe and England in the hope of finding an aircraft capable of being demonstrated and sold in Australia. While he was in England, the French flier, Louis Bleriot had flown from France to Dover in England, creating a storm of controversy about the vulnerability of England to an Armada of flying machines and gained himself, and his aircraft, a great measure of excellent publicity. Mr. Jones, the Adelaide businessman concerned, recognised the achievement of Bleriot and his aircraft and paid £1,000 in advance, for a Bleriot type XI monoplane, powered by a 24hp Anzini rotary engine. This aircraft, an advanced type for the time, employed primary flight controls, which would be recognisable today. A control column was used with a series of levers and cranks to “warp” or alter the shape of the wing, in order that the amount of lift developed by the wing to be increased or decreased, a rudder bar operated by the pilot’s feet, allowed the aircraft to veer right or left, and a forward or rearward movement of control column would cause the nose rise or fall in flight.

While little publicity attended the efforts in South Australia, those of Harry Houdini at Diggers Rest received wide reporting. Houdini had a full understanding of the value of publicity and there were a number of would-be aviators, including Banks, present at Diggers Rest for his initial flights and his efforts were widely reported in the newspapers of the day.

Following the advice of his mechanic, a Mr. Brassac, Houdini waited until the 18th March, when weather conditions were perfect and taxied the aircraft to test the engine and controls. Then he opened the throttle, the engine roared and the aircraft surged toward a clump of trees and then soared skyward and stayed aloft for a minute. He landed safely and went on to fly on two or more occasions that day and on the 21st March flew for seven minutes. Undoubtedly, Houdini had mastered the ability to pilot an aircraft in controlled powered flight and would go on to give further demonstrations at Rose Hill in Sydney. Houdini’s Voisin aircraft resembled an enlarged powered version of the box kites, which Hargrave had experimented with some fifteen years earlier. Powered by a 60-hp ENV engine the Voisin was a type that amassed considerable flying hours in Europe, and while, perhaps, not as advanced as the Bleriot monoplane, was certainly capable of sustained flight in the hands of an experienced pilot.

Interest in aviation proceeded apace with important aircraft such as the Duigan biplane being developed by John Duigan. This aircraft, constructed of Australian components including a motor designed and built in Melbourne, was subjected to rigorous testing by Duigan before any attempt at flight. His first short flight of 24 feet was achieved on 16 July 1910 at Spring Plains, Mia Mia (Castlemaine, Victoria) and a longer flight of about 100 yards was achieved on 30 September 1910 and again even further at 196 yard on 7 October 1910. It was of Australian design and was expected to take at least two years to complete.