At age 16, he became an electrical engineer and later joined the Australian Military Forces. Soon thereafter he learned to fly. Thrilled by the experience, he wrote to his parents: “I have discovered one thing about flying and that is my future, for whatever it may be worth, is bound up with it.”

Who was the world’s greatest aviator? If the people of his homeland are to be believed it was the Australian Charles Kingsford-Smith. Allowing for some nationalist bias, it is true that Kingsford-Smith’s record breaking flights and remarkable flying skill made him a frontrunner for the title. He pioneered more long distance routes than any pilot in history.

Charles Edward “Smithy” Kingsford-Smith was born in Brisbane, Australia, on February 9, 1897. As a boy he couldn’t resist a dare. At age 16, he became an electrical engineer and later joined the Australian Military Forces. Soon thereafter he learned to fly. Thrilled by the experience, he wrote to his parents: “I have discovered one thing about flying and that is my future, for whatever it may be worth, is bound up with it.” World War I was in progress and in July 1917 young Smithy was launched into operations, first in the Middle East and then on the Western Front in Europe. Within six weeks, he had accounted for four enemy aircraft in combat, but then he was shot down and injured. He lost some of his toes, which brought an abrupt end to his promising career as a military aviator. He was awarded the Military Cross for acts of gallantry in action.

For the next few years, Kingsford-Smith flew in aerial circuses. He also introduced commercial aviation services to many new areas in Australia. In 1927, Charles Lindbergh made his epic solo flight across the Atlantic. Ever on the lookout for an opportunity to set an aviation record, Kingsford- Smith decided to cross the vast expanse of the Pacific. He travelled to the United States to identify a suitable aircraft. Finally, he chose the Fokker F.VIIb-3m to achieve his dream. This tri-motor aircraft with a cruising speed of 150 kmph was already in use with various large and small world airlines. The KLM Royal Dutch Airlines used it to link Amsterdam with Batavia (Jakarta)—the longest scheduled route in the world for many years. Kingsford-Smith christened his Fokker the “Southern Cross”. Considering the extremely long flight over sea, safety was paramount. So the plane had three radio sets and four compasses. Apart from Charles Kingsford-Smith, the crew consisted of Charles Ulm (co-pilot), Harry Lyon (navigator) and John Warner (radio operator). The four meticulously rehearsed their emergency procedures prior to the flight, planning to dump their fuel and use the wings as rafts if they had to ditch at sea. They carried water and food enough to last a week.

The “Southern Cross” took off on its first leg from Oakland to Hawaii on the morning of May 31, 1928. It soon lost its direction-finding radio beam, but the experienced navigator Lyon continued selecting the required course by dead reckoning and managed to steer the plane to Hawaii without further incident. On the second leg to Fiji, the aircraft ran into strong headwinds and severe storms that blew it off course. To make matters worse, one of the engines began to run rough. The weather finally improved and they were able to land on a cricket field in Suva, Fiji, in just under 35 hours. It was the world’s longest flight over water till that time. On the last leg from Fiji to Brisbane, ferocious storms tossed their aircraft about violently. Although they were again blown off course, and at times had to fly just above the waves, they made it safely to Brisbane where they landed to universal adulation.

Kingsford-Smith was a born daredevil, always eager to try something new. Aviators all over the world were striving to be the greatest and the fastest and he too persisted with his record-breaking flights. In succeeding months, he made the first non-stop flight across the Australian continent and the first flight across the Tasman Sea to New Zealand. These flights showed the feasibility of air passenger and mail services across Australia. In 1929, he made a round-the-world flight. In 1930, he flew 16,000 kilometres solo and won the England to Australia air race. In 1934, he completed the first west-to-east crossing of the Pacific. At one time he held more long distance records than anyone else on earth.

Yet, when Smithy once pulled out of a race because his plane wasn’t ready, the press and public criticised him, even implying that he was a coward. The accusation stung and his health suffered. So at age 38, he embarked on yet another record breaking attempt. On November 6, 1935, Kingsford-Smith and his co-pilot, Tommy Pethybridge, took off on a planned flight from England to Australia in a Lockheed Altair christened “Lady Southern Cross”. The following day they got airborne from Allahabad at dusk, intending to make it overnight to Singapore. However, the weather was rather stormy and they never arrived at Singapore. The Royal Air Force searched the entire Rangoon-Singapore route, but they could not find the missing pilots, and their fate remains one of aviation’s great unsolved mysteries. Charles Kingsford- Smith, being a man who lived and died for flying, might not have been displeased to die a typical daring aviator’s death—in the cockpit.