The History Behind Spread Your Wings
Through documenting this flight, I hoped to share a little bit more about myself as a person alongside my documentation of the flying journey. For those who know me personally, or who have followed along as I nerded out at various museums around the country, you’ll know that I’m incredibly passionate about history and I believe that one can really only operate in the modern world if they understand the context of the past. With that in mind, I thought it might be fitting to talk about some figures from history who were pioneers in their time and serve as inspirations in the modern age.
The Kingsford Smith Family
One cannot talk about the history of Australian Aviation without mentioning the name of Sir Charles Kingsford Smith, and I feel incredibly blessed to have special support and connection to the Kingsford Smith family, through my support for A Start In Life. The charity’s Marketing and Support Manager, Nina Kingsford-Smith is a relative of the famous aviator and has shared my story with her extended family- I have had several members reach out to offer well wishes. Just a few days before I was due to depart, I received a letter containing a very special gift- a handkerchief which had been in the family for almost a century, bearing the signatures of Sir Charles Kingsford Smith and Charles Ulm, who often served as his co-pilot and was part of many record breaking flights in the 1920s.
Aviation pioneering in the 1920s and 1930s was all about speed and distance. As planes became more powerful, with larger tanks and better engines, able to go faster and for longer, brave men and women made it their mission to take flight and push those boundaries. Record-breakers attempted to achieve certain distances, or make a flight from place to place within a particular time. This ethos is reflected in the achievements of the two famous aviators who’s signatures I have on the handkerchief- the men became the first to fly across the Pacific Ocean in 1928.
Whilst aviation technologies (and safety!) has certainly improved tremendously since the 1920s, I like to feel that my flight, being a circumnavigation of 14 000 kilometres, in some way echoes the pioneering spirit of the first aviators.
I’m so proud that I have been generously trusted with a piece of aviation history and carried it around the country. Even though aviation is very much a science, I’m personally very superstitious and kept a few good luck charms either on my person or in the cockpit with me when I flew. The handkerchief was perhaps my luckiest item, and it sat in the passenger’s seat next to me throughout the entire journey.
Pretto Bell
I’ve commented previously about how flying and the aviation community does a wonderful job at bringing like-minded people together, and this is true in the case of an email I received from a woman who wanted to share the story of her great-grandmother, Pretto Bell (1917-1943). Pretto was from Los Angeles and, like myself, received her Pilot’s Licence at the age of 16. At the time, Pretto was the youngest American woman to be a licensed pilot.
It was such an honour to exchange emails and then receive some photos of Pretto and her flight gear- it was obvious we’re from very different time periods as I don’t currently own a hat and goggles, and am yet to record any logbook time in an open cockpit biplane- I was so touched to read about her story and experiences too.
As humans, I think that we have the tendency to view the past as something untouchable, as dusty or old because it’s something that has already happened. However, I am strongly of the belief that we are not too distant from our predecessors. People have always laughed, told stories, loved and cried. And, since the dawn of powered flight, girls have always wanted to take to the skies as well!
Through my adventure, through sharing my story as a young person taking an aeroplane around Australia, I also want to champion the stories of other and preserve history, as I believe it can teach us a lot.
If you’ve learnt something extra and want to do more research, I’m very glad, and encourage you to investigate further. The internet is a powerful tool in the age of connection and information. Also, if you’d like to read a little bit about a group of historical aviatrices who aren’t as well documented in english-language sources, check out the ‘inspiration’ tab of my website. There, you’ll find a link to my Year 12 History Extension Major Work. It focuses more on historiographical analysis than recounting events; it’s a piece of work I’m proud of and a history that I am fascinated by.
