Townsville has long had a love affair with all things aviation. The
success of the recent T150 Defence Force Air Show and RAAF Base Open Day capped
off a tradition of flocking to see air shows and displays that has existed in
Townsville since the 1930s.
 |
The 'Star of Townsville' at Ross River Aerodrome, 1930.
Photo: State Library of Queensland. |
When the Star of Townsville
flew into the city for the first time in March 1930, thousands of excited
locals were gathered at the newly constructed Ross River Plains aerodrome to
see it land. The Queensland Air Navigation Company Limited’s Avro 618 Ten -
named the Star of Townsville - was a tri-motor monoplane capable of carrying
eight passengers and two crew between Townsville and Brisbane in just one day.
The
following day the Mayor, Alderman W.J. Heatley, was invited to christen the
Star of Townsville, something he was pleased to do, as he felt that “aviation
was soon going to be a big mode of travel in Australia”. A propeller on the
Star of Townsville was decked with flags and a bottle of champagne, which the
Mayor duly broke with a decorated hammer.
Later
in the day, locals were able to take a half-hour flight over the city in the
Star of Townsville, and that weekend, an air show was held at the aerodrome
that attracted 10,000 people - approximately a third of the city’s population.
 |
| Southern Cross arriving at Essendon aerodrome, Melbourne, on 13 June 1928, on a tour following the trans-Pacific flight. Austin Byrne collection, National Museum of Australia. |
A
little over two years later in July 1932, crowds again flocked to the Ross
River aerodrome, this time to see famed aviator Sir Charles Kingsford-Smith and
his Southern Cross. “Smithy” flew
passenger joy flights over three consecutive days, for the cost of 20 shillings
per flight. The 25-mile flight promised to take in the sights of Magnetic
Island and Cleveland Bay, but the cost must have been a little steep for some,
as a second aircraft was scheduled to run flights in conjunction with Smithy.
The de Havilland DH50, piloted by Mr O.B. Hall, conducted the same flights for half
the price - 10 shillings - “to suit the pockets of those who cannot afford the
higher price”.
Because
of its close proximity to the river, the Ross River aerodrome was prone to
seasonal flooding and by 1938 the Townsville City Council were planning a new
“all-weather” airfield. They chose a site on the Town Common, because it was
considered a dead-end, with little likelihood of nearby residential development
in the foreseeable future. Soon, the Royal Australian Air Force chose to set up
a base at the new airfield at Garbutt, and the future of air travel in
Townsville, for both commercial and defence purposes, was secured.
The enthusiasm for air travel was such that people all over
the world believed that before long air travel would be as common as travelling
in a motor vehicle. A Frenchman named Henri Mignet had this in mind when he
designed a small aeroplane in the early 1930s called the “Flying Flea”. Apparently anyone with basic carpentry skills who
was capable of following Mignet’s instruction book could build their own Flying
Flea for roughly £100. Amateur flying enthusiasts seized the opportunity and 1,000
of the aircraft were built and flown in England in 1935 alone.
But the aircraft’s safety credentials were
less than ideal. After seven fatal nose-diving accidents in France and England up to May
1936, the Civil Aviation Department moved to temporarily ban the Flying Flea
from Australian skies. A 1936 report of the French Air Ministry based on full
scale tests in a large wind tunnel, found the Flying Flea suffered from
“lateral instability” and poor handling qualities, and was not powerful enough
to satisfy the requirements for a certificate of navigability.
 |
Pilot Bill Stewart and James Carey, who built the plane, standing beside the Flying Flea.
Photo: W.J. Laurie, JCU Library Special Collections. |
Townsville’s
first (and possibly only) “Flying Flea” was built by Mr James Carey with the
assistance of his father, Mr William Carey, who both lived in North Ward. The
machine was powered by a four-cylinder motorcycle engine and could fly at a speed
of over 60 miles an hour. Carey’s friend, Bill Stewart, was the first to fly the
machine, in October 1938. Mr Stewart went on to join the RAAF as a pilot and
saw service during World War II. He was killed in an accident in England at the
end of 1941 and was posthumously awarded the Distinguished Flying Medal.
After design improvements, the ban on the
aircraft was lifted. However, even though the Flying Flea was popular in
Australia, it is likely that less than ten of the aircraft were ever actually
flown here, making Townsville’s Flying Flea a rare bird indeed.
