Who was Charles Kingsford Smith?
Sir Charles Kingsford Smith was an Australian aviator who made the first trans-Pacific flight from the United States to Australia in 1928, aboard the Southern Cross. He was one of the most famous pilots of his era.
Kingsford Smith was born in Brisbane in 1897. He served in World War I, first in the army and then as a pilot in the Royal Flying Corps.
In 1928, he and co-pilot Charles Ulm, with two American crew members, flew the Southern Cross, a Fokker aircraft, from Oakland, California, to Brisbane, with stops in Hawaii and Fiji.
Record-breaking flights
Kingsford Smith also made the first nonstop flight across Australia and the first flight across the Tasman Sea to New Zealand. He later flew across the Pacific from east to west.
In 1935, while attempting to set a record flight from England to Australia, he disappeared over the Andaman Sea. His body was never found.
Sydney Airport is officially named Kingsford Smith Airport in his honor. He appeared on the Australian $20 paper note, and the Southern Cross aircraft is displayed at Brisbane Airport.