Australia For Everyone

Moments In Time: Air Travel and Aeronautics

Iconic Aircraft

Flying Boats

Douglas Dakota DC-3

Fokker Friendship F27

Vickers Viscount

Lockheed L-188 Electra

Lockheed Super Constellation

Boeing 707

BAC Concorde

Boeing 727

Boeing 747 (Jumbo)

Learjet

Moments In Time

The Kangaroo Route

The Kangaroo Route refers to air routes flown between Australia and the United Kingdom via the Eastern Hemisphere. By mid-2018, only two airlines offered through flights (i.e. not requiring passengers to change plane en route) on the Kangaroo Route: British Airways and Qantas.

Post World War II Domestic Air Travel

When Trans Australian Airlines (now the domestic arm of Qantas) began operations in mid-1946, its first aircraft aquisition was two Douglas DC-3s. The shell of one of these aircraft - a C-47 Skytrain registed as VVH-DAS, and the first of TAA's fleet - is on display in the Queensland town of Kuranda.

TAA The Friendly Way

Trans Australia Airlines (TAA), renamed Australian Airlines in 1986, was one of the two major Australian domestic airlines between its inception in 1946 and its merger with Qantas in September 1992. During its period as TAA, the company played a major part in the development of the Australian domestic air transport industry.

The Black Box Flight Recorder

The first prototype FDR was produced in 1957 by Dr. David Warren of the then Aeronautical Research Laboratories of Australia in Melbourne. In 1953 and 1954, a series of fatal mishaps on the de Havilland DH106 Comet prompted the grounding of the entire fleet pending an investigation.

Domestic Airline Advertising

During the 1960s/70s, Australia's two domestic airlines - Trans Australia Airlines (TAA) and Ansett Airlines of Australia - took different tacks to reel customers with their advertising. Ansett focused on destinations, while TAA built their marketing campaigns around their friendliness. Their slogan was "TAA The Friendly Way", their logo was the smiling face of a TAA air hostess.

From Paddocks To Runways

When Nigel Love brought an ex-war flying machine to Australia in 1918, he sought a suitable place to land and garage it. A friend recommended he look in the Botany area as it was close to Sydney yet far enough away so as to be fairly isolated from nosy sightseers. He ended up leasing 400 acres of open paddocks between the Botany Railway line and the Cooks River.

Australian Military Aircraft

A record as possible of aircraft operated by the Australian, New Zealand & Papua New Guinea Military. Included where known are brief summaries of the history and current status of aircraft employed in Australian, New Zealand & PNG Military Service.

Royal Flying Doctor Service

The Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia, which provides emergency and primary health care services for those living in rural, remote and regional areas of Australia who cannot access a hospital or general practice due to the vast distances of the Outback, is one of the largest and most comprehensive aeromedical organisations in the world.

Space Tracking Stations

In 1960, the Australian and United States governments agreed to establish a series of space tracking stations in Australia. They would provide support to the National Aeronautical Space Administration (NASA) space program, including the future Apollo lunar missions. The stations were located in the Territory, at Tidbinbilla, Orroral Valley and Honeysuckle Creek. Other tracking stations were established around Australia to assist NASA in tracking and communicating with specific individual Deep Space missions.