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aviation

Read more about the article Dalkeith Hilder, Aeropelican founder

Dalkeith Hilder, Aeropelican founder

Dalkeith Llewellyn Hilder became famous in the Newcastle area for creating the Belmont airstrip at Lake Macquarie and for founding the Aeropelican commuter airline that operated there. But aside from those signature achievements he was a driven man with many business achievements to his name. Speaking of his name, he was seldom referred to as Dalkeith. His family knew him as "Dal", while most other people - including work and business associates - called him "Keith". (Confusingly, his son was named Keith, but people outside his family called him "Bill".) According to a short biography supplied…

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Read more about the article Newcastle aviation history and the Walsh Island aerodrome
The Codock in Newcastle in 1934. From a glass negative.

Newcastle aviation history and the Walsh Island aerodrome

Early efforts to bring commercial aviation to Newcastle, NSW, were many, but largely unsuccessful. A push by Charles Kingsford Smith and some of his supporters to create Australia's biggest aerodrome at Walsh Island were almost successful, but fell victim to politics and - most likely - the onset of the Great Depression. The first reference I've found to a commercial air service being offered to Newcastle residents is this article in The Sydney Morning Herald on January 29, 1920, in which "Mr H. E. Broadsmith, engineer-in-chief to the Australian Engineering and Aircraft Company, who accompanied Mr…

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Read more about the article Frank Wainman, Cooranbong’s intrepid aviator

Frank Wainman, Cooranbong’s intrepid aviator

In my collecting travels I have sometimes found interesting real-photo postcards depicting aerial views of parts of the Hunter Region and Central Coast - mostly in the 1960s - with the business name "Avion Views, Cooranbong NSW" rubber-stamped on the back. My search for information about this postcard publisher led me to Judy and Perry Jackson, of Cooranbong, who filled me in on the story. Avion views was just one business run by Judy's father, the apparently indefatigable Franklyn (Frank) Wainman, a mechanic, garage proprietor and flying enthusiast. Born on December 18, 1910, Frank was a…

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