AHSA Newsletter Vol. 34, No. 1, February 2018 – Aviation Historical Society of Australia

1911 The Government advertised for ‘two competent machinists and aviators’ at an annual salary of £400 on 30 December 1911 (The Gazette notice stated ‘The Commonwealth Government will accept no liability for accidents’) to begin the staffing of an Australian flying corps. The Government had appropriated £4,000 for the establishment of the flying corps. Source: Australian Parliamentary Library

1950 At Maroochydore beach three children were killed and fourteen others were seriously injured when CAC Wirraway A20-212 of No. 23 Squadron RAAF crashed during a shark patrol on 30 December 1950. The aircraft had been circling between Maroochydore and Alexandra Headland when it suddenly banked steeply and crashed onto the crowded beach in front of the Maroochydore Surf Life Saving Club. The pilot and his observer survived the impact of the crash. Source: National Archives of Australia