2020-03-01_Australian_Geographic

A

T 3.45PM ON 10 December

last year, exactly 100 years

to the day after Ross and

Keith Smith and their crew aboard

the Vickers Vimy G-EAOU (see AG

153) landed at Darwin after com-

pleting the world’s first long-haul

flight, I touched down at the same

place aboard Southern Sun (pictured)

completing my own re-enactment of

their historic journey.

I was able to retrace their route

and land in nearly all of the same

countries, only avoiding Syria, Iraq

and Iran. England, France, Italy,

Greece, Egypt, Israel, Bahrain,

Pakistan, India, Myanmar, Singapore,

Indonesia and Timor Leste were all

visited and I was curious to see how

flying, and the world, has changed

over that century.

Piloting a small aircraft still has many

challenges – I was delayed and faced

difficult flying conditions in similar

places to the Vimy, with France,

Italy and crossing the equator posing

the toughest challenges. I read in

Ross Smith’s book, Flight to Fame,

how difficult those setbacks were for

him and his crew, and I experienced

the same fears. But aircraft are now

far more reliable. The Smiths were

joined by two talented engineers,

Jim Bennett and Wally Shiers, who all

but rebuilt the engines every three

days. My modern engines purred like

a pair of contented kittens and sipped

a tiny amount of fuel, less than a four-

wheel-drive does on a freeway!

The Smiths navigated with an

atlas, compass and watch. I relied on

GPS, except when I approached an

area in the Middle East where all

three GPS devices in the plane went

blank. I reverted to my magnetic

compass and hand-wound Russian

clock in my dash to enter the country.

The Vimy often sank in the mud

of makeshift runways, whereas I

found myself bogged down in the

convoluted flight approval

processes of various nations.

What hadn’t changed was the

generosity of strangers. Ross wrote

with wonder at the friendliness and

helpfulness of people along the

route. Similarly today, in every

stopover there was someone going

out of their way to be helpful or

kind, proud of their home and

willing to assist an adventurer

on a long journey.

MICHAEL SMITH

SMITH DOES IT AGAIN!

Former AG Adventurer of the Year and solo aviator

Michael Smith re-creates the world’s fi rst trans-global fl ight.

A

S AUSTRALIA PREPARES to

mark 250 years since Cook and

HMB Endeavour arrived in Botany

Bay in April 1770, it’s important to look

at this historic moment from fresh

perspectives while also acknowledging

the achievements of the man and his

remarkable voyage of discovery. The

arrival of Cook lies at the very core of

Australia’s history as a modern nation

and this year there are many activities

and exhibitions that will attempt to

shed new light on the event and

examine its impact on the Indigenous

people who witnessed Endeavour

making its way up the continent’s east

coast. Visit the National Museum of

Australia’s exhibition Endeavour Voyage

• The Untold Stories of Cook and the
  First Australians in Canberra,
  8 April–11 October. Free entry.
  More info: nma.gov.au/exhibitions/
  endeavour-voyage-untold-stories-
  cook-first-australians

PHOTO CREDITS, TOP: NT MAJOR EVENTS; BOTTOM: © NATIONAL MUSEUM OF AUSTRALIA, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

GEOBUZZ

March. April 27

southernsun.voyage @southernsunjourney

AG SOCIETY

SPONSORED

EXPEDITION

On my arrival in Darwin

I hand over a bag of

commemorative mail

postmarked for delivery

by Australia Post.

By Virtue of

This Act

I hereby Take

Possession

of This Land,

by artist

Brian Robinson

from the

NMA’s new

exhibition.

Cook: 250 years