Sir Charles Edward Kingsford Smith was born on 9th February 1897 in Brisbane, Australia.
During the Great War, he enlisted the Australian Army where he became a motorcycle dispatch rider and participated in the Gallipoli campaign. In 1917, Kingsford Smith was transferred to the Royal Flying Corps, earned his pilot license, and then served in No. 23 Squadron.
In 1928, Kingsford Smith successfully completed the first transpacific flight in aviation history. His over 11,500-kilometre-long trip was made with Fokker F.VII/3, named the Southern Cross. Kingsford Smith started on 31st May in Oakland, California and concluded the transpacific journey on 9th June in Brisbane.
In November of 1935, Kingsford Smith and John Thompson Pethybridge as his co-pilot, made an attempt to break the speed record of England-to-Australia route, flying the Lady Southern Cross. On 8th November, the crew and the aircraft disappeared over the Andaman Sea.
Full story here.
Cover photo: Charles Kingsford Smith in the cockpit of ´Lady Southern Cross´ (photo: Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales, Public Domain)
