The southern hemisphere has had no shortage of aviation pioneers. In New Zealand we celebrate the exploits of Richard Pearse and Jean Batten while Australia has Sir Charles Kingsford Smith – the first person to pilot a flight between our two countries.
Damien Lay spent over twenty years scouting for wreckage of The Lady Southern Cross. Photo: Busybird Publishing
This year marks the 90th anniversary of Kingsford Smith’s disappearance on a flight from England to Australia. While some wreckage later washed up near Burma, now known as Myanmar, what happened to Kingsford-Smith and his co-pilot has remained a mystery – until now.
Award-winning Australian film maker Damien Lay spent over twenty years scouting for wreckage and presents his account of why and how their plane, The Lady Southern Cross went down, in his book Of Air and Men.
He talks to Susie Ferguson about his mission to uncover the truth.
Sir Charles Kingsford Smith was the pilot on the inaugural flight between Australia and New Zealand. Photo: Busybird Publishing
