Pre-war Services for Civil Aviation (continued)

While Qantas and WAA had operated with the benefit of Government backing, Smithy and Ulm's airline operated without Government subsidy. Their initiative secured private financial backing to create Australian National Airlines (ANA) which commenced operation on 1 January 1930 on the Sydney-Brisbane route with the Avro 10 (an aircraft manufactured by Avro under license from Fokker). They generated immense public interest that caused a surge in the aviation industry.

That remarkable development was threatened by an appalling lack of adequate support for the aviation industry, not only in Australia but elsewhere in the world. Fliers had visions of developing the industry, and the manufacturers were keen to develop improved aircraft, but the planning and installation of adequate aerodromes, ground facilities, navigational aids, radio communications and meteorological support had not kept pace. Frequent accidents involving the loss of aircraft, passengers and crew were mainly due to the lack of these support facilities, although some were due to faults in aircraft design, notably in the DH86.

It was most unfortunate for ANA that the Avro 10 Southern Cloud crashed on 21 March 1931. Without this crash ANA might have prospered and could possibly have been preferred over Qantas and WAA for the operation of the England-Australia route.

The lack of facilities which contributed to the loss of Southern Cloud were the:

1. absence of radio communication between the aircraft and the ground;


2. lack of navigational aids to indicate to the crew the position of the aircraft; and


3. inadequacy of the meteorological services.

Bureau of Meteorology