A century of seaplanes to be marked on Sydney Harbour

THE centenary of the first flight in Australia of a “hydro-aeroplane’’ in 1914 will be marked this Sunday on Sydney Harbour.

The first ever sea plane to fly from Sydney Harbour in 1914, piloted by M Guillaux.

A SQUADRON of seaplane pilots plans to conduct a fly-past of Sydney Harbour on Sunday morning to mark the centenary of the first flight in Australia of a “hydro-aeroplane’’ in 1914.

Up to 16 aircraft will take part in the tribute to French stunt pilot Maurice Guillaux, who flew the Maurice Farman aircraft owned by local merchant prince Lebbeus Hordern .

The flight on Friday, May 8, 1914, took place from a purpose-built facility in the harbourside suburb of Double Bay.

A commemoration of the historic event by the Seaplane ­Pilots Association of Australia will be held at Rose Bay after the fly-past.

Reports at the time described the dashing Guillaux as a meticulous man who helped his team assemble and prepare the plane over the four days prior to the flight.

It had been imported by Hordern with a view to bringing in more and made a number of flights. But plans to fly the plane from Sydney to Melbourne were dashed by the outbreak of World War I.

The war also saw the projects to import additional seaplanes put on hold until after the end of hostilities, when Hordern brought in more machines to help kick-start a crucial phase of Australian aviation history.

The handsome French aerobatic pilot, also credited with the nation’s first loop the loop, created a sensation during his visit to Australia, according to an Aviation Historical Society of Australia committee set up to celebrate his achievements.

He would be responsible for Australia’s first ever airmail service on a July 1914 flight between Melbourne and Sydney in a ­Bleriot XI monoplane that took more than two days and involved seven fuel stops.

The payload included 1785 souvenir postcards, official letters, a quantity of Lipton’s tea as well as a delivery of chilli cordial and lemon squash.

“He conducted air displays throughout southeast Australia, being seen by hundreds of thousands of people,’’ the AHSA’s airmail centenary commemoration group says in its briefing notes.

“His most exciting feat was a flight from Melbourne to Sydney in July 1914.

“The flight took two and a half days, with the pilot sitting virtually on top of his aircraft, which he controlled by warping the wings. The historical record of this flight has largely been lost because the outbreak of World War I a few weeks later entirely dominated the news.

“Maurice Guillaux returned to France shortly after the beginning of the war and was killed in a plane crash in 1917.’’

Subject to weather, the seaplanes are due to fly through the Sydney heads about 8.45am and follow the north shore at 1000ft to the Sydney Harbour Bridge before turning and heading along the southern shore to a 500ft overflight of Rose Bay. Several plan to land about 9.45am for commemorative presentations by the AHSA and the local French community to the seaplane association and other groups participating in the event.

The ceremony will be attended by French consul-general Maurice Berti and Woollahra Mayor Toni Zeltser.

A display of seaplane records and artefacts at Rose Bay RSL will be supplemented by ­material from the Australian Aviation Museum in Bankstown and the airmail centenary commemoration group.