Ross and Keith Smith’s record-breaking Vickers Vimy plane should be on display at Adelaide Airport plaza
THE record-breaking Vickers Vimy plane flown by brothers Ross and Keith Smith would be a welcome attraction at Adelaide Airport.
I HAVE got some good news. I think. About four and a half years ago, I wrote about the little Vickers Vimy plane that used to be front and centre at the old Adelaide airport terminal.
I’m sure many of you, like me, remember visiting the airport in the old days and being enthralled by that beautiful little plane and the sandstone sculpture of the four South Aussie aviation pioneers who flew into history back in 1920.
For those of you who don’t remember why the plane is so significant, it was flown by Adelaide brothers Ross and Keith Smith on their record-breaking, 18,500km journey from England to Australia as part of a national competition launched by Prime Minister Billy Hughes in the wake of World War I.
Ross and Keith had flown during the war (apparently Keith was Lawrence of Arabia’s pilot in the Middle East) and, together with mechanics Jim Bennett and Wally Shiers, they completed the epic journey in 27 days and 20 hours.
Bearing in mind this was only 16 years after the first flight was recorded by the Wright brothers, it’s little wonder 20,000 people turned out to greet the men on their jubilant homecoming to Adelaide.
The Smith brothers received knighthoods for their efforts and the Vickers Vimy went on show in Canberra. In the 1950s, Adelaide’s main airport was relocated from Parafield to West Beach and the state government had the plane brought home to the new terminal. But when our upgraded airport opened nine years ago (yep, nine years already) the Vickers Vimy was deemed too fragile to make the trip.
Today it remains trapped inside its tired little cocoon at what’s now the arse-end of the airport, monitored and restored by Adelaide Airport Ltd but largely hidden from the world to protect its spruce wood and treated canvas exterior from the sun.
But here’s the good news. I think.
In Adelaide Airport Ltd’s 20-year Preliminary Draft Master Plan (currently with the Federal Government for approval) “there is consideration for relocating the Vickers Vimy to the vicinity of the plaza area”. Hurrah!
What’s more, in a statement during the week, Adelaide Airport Ltd said the plane was “a valuable piece of our aviation history and something that should continue to be on display for future generations to see”.
But the statement also said that any relocation of the Vickers Vimy would “need to be considered in light of how it can fit with other projects we have planned for this precinct such as a future airport hotel development”.
And: “Such a move will require specialist engineering advice given the aircraft must be housed in a facility where we can strictly control light, humidity and temperature to protect (it).”
OK, so it’s not a done deal. But surely we can make it happen, given that the famous Spirit of St Louis, flown by Charles Lindbergh on the first solo non-stop trans-Atlantic flight in 1927, is hanging in the Smithsonian museum, in Washington.
Imagine the Vickers Vimy sitting inside a glass box in that huge open airport plaza. It would look incredible – and give the plaza a purpose.
If money’s an issue, let’s consider that the Art Gallery of South Australia recently paid $4.5 million for a landscape painting by French impressionist Camille Pissarro, with money raised from 285 individuals and businesses.
If South Australians can raise that kind of cash for a significant French painting, can’t we also reach into our pockets to help showcase this equally significant piece of aviation history – a trailblazer that flew three times further than the Spirit of St Louis and seven years earlier? And its pilots came from our state!
I hope Adelaide Airport Ltd has the will to make this happen. Generations of South Australians would thank them for it.