Sir Charles Kingsford Smith is not a name that springs to mind when one is talking about the early history of air travel to Canberra. The intrepid aviator, whose business ventures unfortunately only occasionally matched the success of his purely aerial exploits, did have a finger in the pie however; albeit very indirectly and only for a short time.
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''Smithy'' is best known locally for his visit to the city with Charles Ulm and the Southern Cross, a Fokker Tri-motor, on June 15, 1928, following their record-breaking Pacific crossing a few weeks before. According to the June 6, 1935, edition of Flight (a British publication reporting on aviation developments across the Empire), ''the service between Sydney and Canberra, operated by Eastern Air Transport Ltd, has now been satisfactorily established and is being fairly well patronised. One return trip is being made on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday with two trips on Monday and Friday. The run takes a little over an hour and an extension to Tumut is made when necessary''.
The article went on to state Eastern Air Transport ''has acquired the business of Kingsford Smith Air Service Ltd and Sir Charles has joined the board (of Eastern)''. ''The Kingsford Smith flying school is doing a record business (under the new management), and two instructors, Captain J.T. Pethybridge and G. Henry, are permanently employed with D.F. Collins and R.F. Chapman assisting when required. Chapman, incidentally, is doing most of the flying on the Canberra run.
''Sir Charles, by the way, has been in New Zealand, where he has been attempting to arrange a mail service across the Tasman Sea using two Douglas DC-2 machines [the forerunner of the legendary DC-3 or Dakota of World War II fame and arguably the world's first truly modern airliner].''
The Canberra-Sir Charles Kingsford Smith connection is confirmed by an article that appeared in The Canberra Times on February 27, 1935.
A significant difference between the two reports is The Canberra Times article described the transaction as an ''amalgamation'', not an ''acquisition'', and said the new business would be known as ''Kingsford Smith Air Services Ltd in amalgamation with Eastern Air Transport Ltd''. Subsequent advertising suggests the early reports may have been slanted to allow the national hero, who was selling at a loss, to save face.
Advertisements in 1935 describe the enterprise as ''Eastern Air Transport in conjunction with Kingsford Smith Air Service'', quote a travel time of 75 minutes (from Sydney to Canberra) and feature a dynamic photograph of a DC-2 in flight. A twin-engine, 14-seater, all-metal aircraft, the DC-2 was developed from the DC-1 (a prototype) first flown on July 1, 1933. America's TWA liked the plane but requested modifications including improved passenger accommodation and more powerful engines that saw production aircraft designated DC-2s. It eventually evolved into the larger DC-3 that served with distinction in World War II as the Dakota, and, more than any other aircraft, opened the world to civil aviation.
Nineteen thirty-five turned into an ''annus horribilis'' for Smithy that concluded with his death. The attempt to establish a Trans-Tasman mail service referred to in the Flight article was marked by a spectacular mechanical failure on the maiden flight redeemed only by the raw courage of his co-pilot and navigator, Sir Patrick Gordon Taylor.
Some 800 kilometres out to sea, the Southern Cross's centre engine lost part of its exhaust system, with fragments smashing into the starboard propeller. After feathering the starboard engine, ''Smithy'' turned for home. With the surviving engines at full power, the port engine started to lose oil, and it became obvious it would not go the distance.
Sir Patrick climbed onto the strut supporting the starboard wing and edged his way to the dead engine. He used a small thermos to collect oil and transferred it to the port engine. He did this six times.
Smithy, with Captain J.T. Pethybridge from his flying school, took off from England on November 6, 1935, aboard the Lady Southern Cross (a Lockheed Altair) in an attempt to once more break the record for a flight to Australia. They crashed somewhere between Burma and Singapore on a night leg of the flight. No wreckage or bodies were ever recovered.
