48 | FLIGHTPATH
Butler’s Avro 504K after the crash landing in a wheat
paddock, near Minlaton. [State Library of South Australia]The Bristol Monoplane just prior to being reassembled after
shipping from the UK. [State Library of South Australia]
The Avro 504K that took passengers
for joy flights for £5 for 15 minutes.
[State Library of South Australia]
monoplane (serial C5001) that became known
as ‘The Red Devil’. Although allocated the
civil registration G-AUCH, it seems this was
never carried on the aircraft, just an under-
wing number of ‘83’ on each wing in a dia-
mond. He also wisely imported three 110
horsepower (82 kW) Le Rhone rotary engines
that could be used on either airframe. Engi-
neer Lieutenant Henry Alexis ‘Harry’ Kauper
(inventor of the Sopwith-Kauper Interrupter
Gear for machine guns) Sergeant Major Sam-
uel C. Crawford and Leslie J. Lucas oversaw
the importing process to Australian shores.
In early August 1919 the ‘Harry J Butler
and Kauper Aviation Company Limited’ was
formed, and operated from a small hangar at
Northfield, in greater Adelaide. Butler made
the airfield available for the arrival of Sir
Ross and Sir Keith Smith in the Vickers
Vimy G-EAOU on 23 March 1920, as part of
their triumphant tour following the flight
from England in 1919. This airfield was used
by the company until it moved to Albert
Park aerodrome which Butler later pur-
chased. They then operated from Albert
Park aerodrome until the closure of the
company on the 24th September 1921.
Butler’s greatest achievement however oc-
curred on the 6th of August 1919. He had
dreamt of this day since working on the farm,
he was to fly home to Minlaton across Gulf
Saint Vincent from Adelaide. ‘The Red Devil’
monoplane was wheeled from the hanger to
endure 70 mph (110km/h) winds, however
there was no turning back, Butler was deter-
mined. He had onboard a 40 lb (18 kilo) mail
bag consisting of letters and postcards des-
tined for Minlaton from Adelaide. This was
not only the first airmail in South Australia,
but also recognised to be the first overwater
crossing by air in the southern hemisphere.
Butler was persuaded to wear a couple of
tyre inner tubes around his neck and waist,
as a makeshift life jacket, should the aircraft
ditch. At 10:40am that morning, he took off
with that nasty head wind. He tried chang-
ing altitudes to evade the conditions, from
1,500 feet to a high 15,000 feet, over the 67
mile (108 km) journey, but the wind was
constantly against him. At Minlaton 6,000
people had gathered to witness this signifi-
cant event, most of whom had never seen an
aircraft, let alone a flying one. As time pro-
gressed and with no sign of the aircraft peo-ple started to worry, but then out of the
skies came the Bristol. It took Butler 27 min-
utes to make the crossing across the Gulf,
and Butler, revelling in the moment, put on
a aerobatic display for the spectators. It was
reported at the time that Butler “did a nose
dive” from 8,000 feet (2,500 metres) skim-
ming over them before pulling up into the
skies once again. As lunch was scheduled
for midday, Butler, considerate as he was,
proceeded to land the aircraft at 11:45am.
Once his feet were back on terra firma
again, his family in a car, plus an entourage
of spectators, swarmed toward the aircraft
to greet Butler. After the official proceed-
ings, welcoming Butler home by the Chair-
man of the District Council and lunch, But-
ler returned to ‘The Red Devil’ and took off
again for another aerial display. Contempo-
rary accounts say he dived from altitude,
barrel rolled, looped, side slipped, and spun,
delighting onlookers watching in awe. On
the 11 August, he returned to Adelaide with
two bags of mail.
As a means of raising funds Butler held
several aerobatic displays. The most signifi-
cant one was held before a crowd of 20,000