The Advertiser Library caption: The undamaged fuselage, wing stubs and under-carriage of Sir Ross and Sir Keith Smith’s Vickers Vimy – the first aircraft to fly from England to Australia in its 30,000 pound memorial hangar at Adelaide Airport, 07 Nov 1957. “The mainplane of the aeroplane was destroyed by fire on the semi-trailer bringing it from Canberra at the weekend.” Please note: these images are not to be republished without the permission of News Corporation. To view a PDF of The Advertiser’s 1957 coverage of the Vimy inside the memorial, supplied courtesy of News Corporation, please click here.
The undamaged fuselage, wing stubs and under-carriage of Sir Ross and Sir Keith Smith’s Vickers Vimy – the first aircraft to fly from England to Australia in its 30,000 pound memorial hangar at Adelaide Airport, 07 Nov 1957. “The mainplane of the aeroplane was destroyed by fire on the semi-trailer bringing it from Canberra at the weekend.”ageMr C. A. Wittber, of Adelaide, one of the mechanics who worked on Sir Ross and Sir Keith Smith’s Vickers Vimy before the historic first flight from England to Australia, examines the engines again at Adelaide Airport, 22 Nov 1957. With him (at left) is the Adelaide manager of TAA (Mr R. M. Rechner).A scale model of the Vickers Vimy plane in which Sir Ross and Sir Keith Smith made the first England-Australia flight attracted keen interest at the signing of the contract for construction of the memorial hangar at Adelaide Airport. (From left) The chairman of the appeal committee (Mr R. M. Rechner), Mr Henry Wilckens, representing the contractors Wilckens and Burnside Ltd., and Mr Douglas Michelmore, the architect, 02 Apr 1957.
To view a PDF of The Advertiser’s coverage of aviation pioneers visiting the Vimy memorial, supplied courtesy of News Corporation, click here. To view a PDF of The Advertiser’s coverage of the official signing of construction for the Vimy memorial, supplied courtesy of News Corporation, click here.
