USC student receives RADF grant to research aviator
Tracing the adventures of a pioneer aviator is no mean feat, even if you happen to be closely related to the daring pilot in question.
University of the Sunshine Coast Communication student Mary Garden, of Peachester, is writing a book about her father, Oscar Garden (1903-1997) who was one of the first people to fly solo from England to Australia in 1930.
Mary’s efforts in researching her father’s feats recently received a welcome boost in the form of a $2250 Regional Arts Development Fund grant from Caloundra City Council.
She said the grant would enable her to conduct research next month in the South Island of New Zealand where Oscar lived after emigrating from Scotland in 1921.
Mary, who has several publishing credits to her name, said her father was one of the few long-distance pioneer aviators to survive that era of trailblazing. Most died in crashes, she said.
“In 1930, flying a second-hand open-cockpit Gipsy Moth, he became the fourth person to fly solo from England to Australia,” she said.
“He was a novice pilot with only 39 flying hours experience before he set off,” she said. “His aim was not to break records but to accumulate enough hours for a commercial licence.
“His flight of 18 days had only been bettered by veterans Charles Kingsford Smith and Bert Hinkler.”
Mary said her father completed his epic journey by landing at Wyndham in Western Australia. The following day he became the first person to fly over the Great Sandy Desert to Alice Springs.
“After this, he made an extensive victory tour of New Zealand, particularly the South Island,” she said. “He then spent several years barnstorming throughout Africa and the Middle East before becoming a commercial pilot in England.
“After doing a conversion course for flying boats, he joined the fledging Tasman Empire Airways Ltd (the forerunner of Air New Zealand) in 1940. He became Chief Pilot and Operations Manager and made thousands of flights across the Tasman.”
Mary said her research in New Zealand next month would include working through the archives of various libraries and visiting aviation museums on the South Island.
She also will interview several people including 93-year-old John Tolsen who witnessed Oscar Garden become the first person to land a plane on Stewart Island in 1931.
Mary also hopes to find more photographs of her father to add to her collection, some of which will feature in a planned photographic display to be established at the Queensland Air Museum at Caloundra.
— Terry Walsh