Northern Territory Library
Aviation History Subject Guide
This guide was developed for people who are interested in delving further into the
history of the Great Air Race, as well as other fascinating stories of Northern
Territory aviation history. Resources include books, articles, photographs, and relevant websites.
Books
Fenton, Clyde.
Flying doctor. Darwin : N.T. Government
Printer, 1982.
NTC 362.10994 FENT
Hall, E. R.
A saga of achievement : a story of the men
and women who maintained and operated
radio and radar systems of the RAAF over 50
years. Box Hill North, Vic.: Bonall,1978.
NTC 358.4 HALL
Hooper, Meredith.
Kangaroo route: the development of
commercial flight between England and
Australia. London ; Sydney : Angus &
Robertson,1985.
NTC 387.70994 HOO
Hooper, Meredith.
God 'elp all of us : three great flights. North
Ryde, N.S.W. : Methuen, 1986.
NTC 387.70994 HOO
Legg, Frank.
Once more on my adventure. Sydney : Ure
Smith, 1966.
NTC B770(HURL)LEGG
Maiden, Peter
The sky racers : the 1919 air
race from London to Australia.
Rockhampton, Qld. : Central
Queensland University Press,
2010.
NTC 797.52 MAID
Department of Arts & Museums
McPheat, W. Scott
John Flynn: vision of the Inland. Sydney :
Hodder and Stoughton, 1977.
NTC B266.5294(FLYN)MACP
North of Capricorn: a history of aviation in
Australia's top end. Canberra : Australian
Government Publishing Service,1987.
NTL 387.7 NORT
NTC 387.7 NORT
Palmer, Joan Austen.
Goggles and God help you : pioneer
airwoman Freda Thompson OBE and some
of her contemporaries. [Benalla, Vic.] : J.
Palmer,1986.
NTC B387.70994 (THO) PALM
Swinson, Arthur.
The great air race, England - Australia 1934.
London : Cassell, 1968.
NTC 797.52 SWIN
Wixted, Edward P.
The North-west aerial frontier, 1919-1934:
some men, women and flying machines
seen in north-west Australia in the
pioneering period : international flights,
round-Australia flights, and the completion
of the Darwin air link to the eastern states.
Springhill, Brisbane, Qld: Boolarong
Publications, 1985.
NTC 387.70994 WIX
Yeldham, Peter
Glory girl. London, 1927.
A823.4 YELD
D
e
DVDs and Videos
Flying sheilas : Australia seen through the
eyes and experiences of unique Australian
female pilots.
The first of the Flying Sheilas, Nancy Bird
Walton AO, OBE, is shown learning to fly at
Mascot in 1933 with Sir Charles Kingsford Smith.
She became the youngest female professional
pilot in the British Commonwealth while
navigating west of Bourke via the Shell road map
and via ‘where the fence posts met’!
Deborah Lawrie will always be known for her
historic legal challenge with Sir Reginald Ansett,
through the Equal Opportunities Commission in
the late 1970s. - A legal battle to become the
first commercial pilot with the major airlines.
In the mid 1980s the RAAF selected Robyn
Williams to become one of the first two female
pilots to join the Australian Air Force. After being
a transport pilot she was selected to undertake
‘Test Pilots Course’. She later went on to
become a Wing Commander accepting the new
C130-J Hercules into the Australian Air Force.
Around the same time Melissa Blain was a
charter pilot flying out of Moorabbin in
Melbourne. Forced to fly crayfish as she was
advised that clients would not fly with a female
pilot, Melissa went onto traverse the country
daily whilst flying as a captain for Virgin Blue.
Flying up and down the NSW Coast was where
Sally Muggeridge started her commercial flying
in Australia where she met Susan on the first
ever female crewed flight for the Qantas group in
1992. Sally then went to Europe to fly until she
decided to swap flying regional jets operating at
450 knots to become an airship ‘Blimp’ pilot in
the USA doing 45 knots with a strong tailwind.
Christine Davy, MBE, studied for her commercial
pilot licence in 1956 whilst representing Australia
at the winter Olympics as a downhill skier. Flying
a range of aircraft for Connellan Airways in 1963
out of Alice Springs, Christine became
Australia’s first multi crew female captain flying
DC3s throughout the Outback. The DC3 she
states always had ‘personality’ as no one ever
quite knew what it would do next. Christine
swapped fixed wing flying in the outback for
helicopters based up in the Kimberleys, servicing
the offshore oil industry where she met Susan.
Susan spent her early flying years up in the
Northern Territory Top End and in the
Kimberleys, Western Australia.
The Flying Sheilas stories are told through the
eyes of Susan Michaelis, who learnt to fly at
Moorabbin in Victoria in the mid 1980s. Susan,
the winner of the CAA Sir Donald Anderson
trophy spent her early aviation career flying
throughout the Northern Territory Top End and
in the Kimberleys, Western Australia then
going on to fly in the Qantas Regional network
for many years. It is her remarkable story of
how the various Flying Sheilas crossed her
path and played a part in her life that is central
to this unique documentary.
The last of the pilots, Robyn May, flew
extensively throughout South Australia after
spending the early 1970s flying throughout the
highlands and coastal regions of Papua New
Guinea. A totally unique vision of Australia as
seen through the eyes of eight amazing ‘Flying
Sheilas’.
Horsham, West Sussex : Fact not Fiction Films
Ltd., 2008.
NTC MEDIA 629.13 FLYI
Reports and articles
The following are just some of the fascinating
reports you can read about aviation history
within the Northern Territory skies.
Great Air Race 1919
Northern Territory of Australia.
Annual Report of the Acting Administrator for
the year ended 30 June 1920.
MICROFILM
Puckering, Adrian. The wildest aviation
journey of all time : in 1920, Ray Parer and
John McIntosh piloted the first single-engine
flight between England and Australia. Agora,
v.43, no.2, 2008: 23-25.
Available online: Informit
"Air Race." The Argus, 26 Nov 1919: 15.
nla.gov.au/nla.news-article4648195
"Air Race."The Argus, 1 December 1919: 7.
nla.gov.au/nla.news-article4645071
"Across Australia."The Sydney Morning
Herald, 10 December 1919: 11.
nla.gov.au/nla.news-article28093164
"The Great Flight."Northern Territory Times
and Gazette, 13 December 1919: 5-6.
nla.gov.au/nla.news-article3299549
"Air Race Test Flight."The Courier-Mail, 7
April 1934: 14.
nla.gov.au/nla.news-article1187346
"Dr. Fenton crashes : plane burnt to ashes."
Cairns Post, 10 November 1936: 6.
nla.gov.au/nla.news-article41772436
"Hinkler lands in Australia." The Mercury, 23
February 1928: 9, 10.
nla.gov.au/nla.news-article24198996
Other Resources
Websites
Darwin’s Aviation Museum. Australian
Aviation Heritage Centre
darwinsairwar.com.au/
Photographs
Historical photographs of Northern Territory
aviation history can be found on PictureNT.
Shepherd, Ray.
Papers, 1900-2004. Research notes and
personal papers mainly about aviation history
and the Northern Territory.
A guide to the manuscripts is available in an
electronic version via the internet.
www.ntl.nt.gov.au/collections/personal_papers_collec
tion/guide_to_papers_of_ray_shepherd#1-20
View by appointment.
Taylor, John W. R.
QANTAS 1922-1999. Mock up for book on the
history of Queensland and Northern Territory Air
Service, contains original artwork.
Also contains copy of Wikipedia entry dated
16/3/2010.
NTC MS51
View by appointment.
hdl.handle.net/10070/36040
Did you know?
Several of our streets have been named for
people involved with the Great Air Race:
Hudson Fysh Avenue
Ludmilla
McGinness Street
Parap
Ross Smith Avenue
Parap
Shiers Street
The Narrows
McIntosh Avenue
Airport
Henry Wrigley Drive
Marrara
Murphy Drive
Airport
Toupein Road
Palmerston
hdl.handle.net/10070/8420
Aircraft BE 2e at Alexandria station, with Capt. Wrigley
and Sgt. Murphy and children - first landing in NT.
8th. Dec. 1919
hdl.handle.net/10070/5971
Arrival of Amy Johnson. First woman to fly solo
between England and Australia. Darwin, 23 May
1930.
www.ntl.nt.gov.au
Contact Details
Phone: 1800 019 155
or (08) 8999 7177
Email:
[email protected]
Fax:
(08) 8999 6927
Post:
GPO Box 42, Darwin, N.T. 0801
Location: Parliament House, Darwin
More information and other subject guides available through the NT Library website.