# List of Australian aviation firsts

List of firsts for aviation in Australia or for Australian aviators.

## International

| Year | Date | Event | Location | Plane | Aviator(s) |
| 1917 | 1917-03-20 | Victoria Cross for Australian Aviator | Gaza | B.E.2c | Frank McNamara (VC) |
| 1919 | 1919-12-10 | England to Australia | Hounslow to Darwin | Vickers Vimy | Keith Smith, Ross Smith |
| 1928 | 1928-02-22 | England to Australia, solo | Croydon Airport to Darwin | Avro Avian | Bert Hinkler |
| 1928 | 1928-06-09 | North America to Australia | Oakland to Brisbane | Fokker F.VII | Charles Kingsford Smith, Charles Ulm, James Warner, Harry Lyon |
| 1928 | 1928-09-11 | Australia to New Zealand | Richmond, New South Wales to Christchurch | Fokker F.VII | Charles Kingsford Smith, Charles Ulm, Harold Litchfield, Thomas H. McWilliams |
| 1928 | 1928-12-20 | Antarctic Continent, first flight over | Deception Island to Deception Island | Lockheed Vega | Hubert Wilkins |
| 1930 | 1930-05-24 | England to Australia, solo, female | Croydon Airport to Darwin | Gipsy Moth | Amy Johnson |
| 1930 | 1930-07-04 | Circumnavigation of Earth, via Australia | Oakland, California to Oakland, California, flying west | Fokker F.VII | Charles Kingsford Smith, Charles Ulm |
| 1931 | 1931-01-07 | Australia to New Zealand, solo | Sydney Airport to Hari Hari, Westland | Avro Avian | Guy Menzies |
| 1937 | 1937-08-18 | Australia to South Africa, solo via Asia | Archerfield to Cape Town | Klemm Kl 32 | Maude Bonney |
| 1948 | 1948-11-20 | Australia to South Africa, via Indian Ocean | Sydney Airport to Palmietfontein Airport | Avro Lancastrian | L.R. Ambrose |
| 1951 | 1951-03-27 | Australia to South America | Rose Bay, New South Wales to Valparaíso | Catalina | Patrick Gordon Taylor |
| 1983 | 1983-07-22 | Circumnavigation of Earth by helicopter, solo | Fort Worth, Texas to Fort Worth, Texas, flying east | Bell 206B Jetranger III | Dick Smith |
| 1989 | 1989-08-17 | England to Australia, non-stop | London Heathrow Airport to Sydney Airport | Boeing 747-438 | David Massy-Greene; George Lindeman |
| 1989 | 1989-11-11 | Circumnavigation of Earth, solo, female | Sydney to Sydney, flying east | Piper Saratoga | Gaby Kennard |
| 1996 | 1996-05-19 | Space flight | Kennedy Space Center to Shuttle Landing Facility, STS-77 | Space Shuttle Endeavour | Andrew Thomas |
| 2013 | 2013-09-07 | Circumnavigation of Earth, solo, teenager | Wollongong to Wollongong, flying east | Cirrus SR22 | Ryan Campbell |

## National

| Year | Date | Event | Location | Machine | Aviator(s) |
| 1858 | 1858-02-01 | Balloon flight | Richmond, Victoria | "Australasian" Balloon | Joseph Dean |
| 1879 | 1879-04-14 | Parachute descent (of balloon and pilot) | Melbourne | "Aurora" Balloon | Henri L'Estrange |
| 1888 | 1888-12-08 | Parachute descent | Ashfield, New South Wales | "Gem" Balloon | J.T. Williams |
| 1890 | 1890-02-08 | Parachute descent by a woman | Newcastle, New South Wales | "Australia" Balloon | Valerie Freitas (as "Valerie Van Tassell") |
| 1894 | 1894-11-12 | Unpowered flight using heavier-than-air device (kites) | Stanwell Park, New South Wales | Four box kites | Lawrence Hargrave |
| 1909 | 1909-12-05 | Flight of heavier-than-air machine (glider) | Narrabeen, New South Wales | Taylor Biplane Glider | George Augustine Taylor |
| 1909 | 1909-12-09 | Powered flight of heavier-than-air machine | Sydney | Wright Model A | Colin Defries |
| 1910 | 1910-07-16 | Flight of Australian-built plane | Mia Mia, Victoria | Duigan pusher biplane | John Duigan |
| 1911 | 1911-12-05 | First airman to qualify as pilot in Australia (Licence No. 1) | Sydney | Bristol Boxkite | William Ewart Hart |
| 1912 | 1912-08-06 | Military pilot | England | Deperdussin monoplane | Henry Petre |
| 1914 | 1914-03-01 | Military flight | Point Cook | Bristol Boxkite | Eric Harrison |
| 1914 | 1914-05-11 | Seaplane flight | Sydney | Maurice Farman "hydro-aeroplane" | Maurice Guillaux |
| 1914 | 1914-07-18 | Air mail | Melbourne to Sydney | Blériot XI | Maurice Guillaux |
| 1919 | 1919-08-06 | Air mail over-water flight (in Southern Hemisphere) | Adelaide to Minlaton | Avro 504 | Harry Butler |
| 1919 | 1919-11-16 | Crossing of continent | Melbourne to Port Darwin | B.E.2e | Henry Wrigley and Arthur Murphy |
| 1919 | 1919-12-16 | Bass Strait | Stanley, Tasmania to Torquay, Victoria | Boulton Paul P.9 | Arthur L. Long |
| 1924 | 1924-05-19 | Circumnavigation of continent | Point Cook, Victoria to St Kilda, Victoria, anti-clockwise | Fairey III floatplane | Ivor McIntyre, Stanley Goble |
| 1928 | 1928-05-17 | Royal Flying Doctor Service | Cloncurry, Queensland to Julia Creek, Queensland | de Havilland DH.50 | Arthur Affleck |
| 1934 | 1934-10-01 | Autogyro flight | Essendon Aerodrome | Cierva | Douglas Robertson |
| 1937 | 1937-11-21 | Parachute descent by female | Essendon | Airco DH.4 | Jean Burns |

## Regional

| Year | Date | State | Event | Location | Machine | Aviator(s) |
| 1910 | 1910-03-12/3 | SA | First flight in South Australia | Bolivar, South Australia | Bleriot monoplane | Carl William 'Bill' Wittber |
| 1910 | 1910-03-17 | SA | First controlled flight in South Australia | Bolivar, South Australia | Bleriot monoplane | Fred Custance |
| 1910 | 1910-03-18 | Vic | Flight at Diggers Rest | Diggers Rest, Victoria | Voisin biplane | Harry Houdini |
| 1911 | 1911-04-18 | NSW | Flight at Sydney Airport (site) | Sydney Airport | Bristol Boxkite | Joseph Joel Hammond |
| 1931 | 1931-04-01 | NSW | Flight at Lord Howe Island | Lord Howe Island | Gypsy Moth seaplane | Francis Chichester |

## Images

* E.A Crome collection of photographs on aviation at National Library of Australia
* Horrie Miller aviation photograph collection at National Library of Australia
* Sam Hood collection of photographs (including aviation) at Mitchell Library of State Library of New South Wales