page_title: Stanley Goble
section_title: Circumnavigation of Australia
hierarchical_section_title: Stanley Goble / Inter-war years / Circumnavigation of Australia
caption_attribution_description: English: Fairey IIID Seaplane A10-3 Flown by Wing Commander Goble and Flight Lieutenant Mcintyre on a survey flight around Australia.
context_page_description: Air Vice Marshal Stanley James Goble, CBE, DSO, DSC was a senior commander in the Royal Australian Air Force. He served three terms as Chief of the Air Staff, alternating with Wing Commander Richard Williams. Goble came to national attention in 1924 when he and fellow RAAF pilot Ivor McIntyre became the first men to circumnavigate Australia by air, journeying 8,450 miles in a single-engined floatplane.
  During World War I, Goble flew fighters on the Western Front with the British Royal Naval Air Service. He became an ace with ten victories, commanded No. 5 Squadron, and was awarded the Distinguished Service Order and the Distinguished Service Cross. Returning to Australia, Goble assisted in the formation of the RAAF as an independent branch of the Australian armed forces. On an exchange posting to Britain in the 1930s, he led No. 2 Group RAF.
  As Chief of the Air Staff at the onset of World War II, Goble clashed with the Federal Government over implementation of the Empire Air Training Scheme, which he believed would be detrimental to the defence of Australia.
context_section_description: The young air force was a small, close-knit organisation comparable to a flying club, although several pioneering flights were undertaken by its members. One of the most notable was made by Goble and Flying Officer (later Flight Lieutenant) Ivor McIntyre in 1924, when they became the first men to circumnavigate Australia by air, in a single-engined Fairey IIID floatplane. The English-born McIntyre, who was lead pilot while Goble acted as commander and navigator, was also a World War I veteran of the Royal Naval Air Service. The purpose of the flight was to survey the northern coastline of Australia for defence planning, and to test the capabilities of the Fairey IIID.
  Goble and McIntyre took off from Point Cook, Victoria, on 6 April 1924 and flew 8,450 miles (13,600 km) in 44 days, in often arduous conditions. Though well-prepared with fuel stocks and spare parts pre-positioned along the intended route, they had to contend with illness and tropical storms, as well as mid-air engine trouble and fuel leaks. Their journey took them anticlockwise around the continent, along the Eastern Australian coast through Sydney, Southport, Townsville and Thursday Island, crossing the Gulf of Carpentaria to Darwin, and then continuing along the coast through Broome, Carnarvon, Perth, Albany and Port Lincoln, before arriving back in Victoria. As they flew above Point Cook, twelve RAAF aircraft took to the air to escort them to their landing place at St Kilda Beach, where they were welcomed by a crowd of 10,000 people.
  Prime Minister Stanley Bruce called the expedition "one of the most wonderful accomplishments in the history of aviation", his government presenting Goble with a gift of £500, and £250 to McIntyre. The British Royal Aero Club awarded them the annual Britannia Trophy, and they were appointed Commanders of the Order of the British Empire in the King's Birthday Honours. Though the flight is still acknowledged as one of the most important in Australian aviation, the necessity for the Air Force chief to personally command such a journey has been questioned, suggesting that it was motivated by the one-upmanship that characterised the Williams-Goble relationship. Two years later Williams would make a three-month, 10,000-mile (16,000 km) round trip from Point Cook to the Pacific Islands, the first international flight undertaken by an RAAF plane and crew, amid similar suspicions.
caption: Fairey IIID seaplane flown by Wing Commander Goble and Flying Officer McIntyre on their 1924 circumnavigation of Australia
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