Steve Gibbons (Bendigo, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On July 16, 1910, John Robertson Duigan flew an aircraft—it was a seven-metre hop—at his family’s property, Spring Plains, at Mia-Mia, near Kyneton in Victoria. That Australian flight occurred in my electorate of Bendigo and is acknowledged as the first-ever powered, controlled flight of an all-Australian designed and built aeroplane and it occurred less than seven years after the Wright brothers’ Flyer lifted off at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, in the USA. In the five countries where powered flights were achieved, considerable technical resources were available, which made Duigan’s effort in Australia all the more remarkable because he accomplished the flight with little outside help, other than several texts, the magazine Aero and the engineering skills of his younger brother, Reginald Charles Duigan.

The reason I raise this tonight is because, on 8 May 2010, two Bendigo pilots, Ken Evers and Tim Pryce, in the spirit of John Duigan, took off from Bendigo aerodrome in an attempt to be the first Australian pilots ever to fly around the world in an Australian commercially manufactured aircraft—and I am delighted to say that that adventure is progressing well. After successfully crossing the Pacific Ocean via Norfolk Island, Samoa, Christmas Island and Hawaii, they landed safely at Mojave in California earlier this week. They then progressed to McNeal in Arizona and then to New Orleans, and landed safely in Jamaica around 10 am this morning, Australian time.

What makes this trip remarkable is that they are flying a single-engine eight-seat Australian designed and Gippsland Aeronautics manufactured Airvan. This aircraft has been described as a ‘flying ute’, or the four-wheel drive of Australian aviation. The company has manufactured and sold around 260 of these aircraft around the world and it is a great testament to Australian manufacturing and, in particular, Australian aircraft manufacturing.

I would like to place on the public record our thanks to the major sponsors of this event—first and foremost, Gippsland Aeronautics and their parent company, India’s Mahindra Corporation. I express our appreciation to this company for having the confidence to invest in Australian aircraft manufacturing, which is most welcome, and to all the other sponsors who have shown confidence in and support for this event. For the technically minded, the Airvan is manufactured by Gippsland Aeronautics in Morwell, Victoria. It is powered by a Lycoming TIO-540-AH1A turbo charged, fuel injected engine. The GA8-TC Airvan has a cruise speed of 140 knots at 10,000 feet with 75 per cent power.

As well as showing the great Australian spirit of adventure—remember, no other Australian has ever attempted a mission like this, and our pioneering long-distance aviators like Sir Charles Kingsford Smith helped establish Australian aviation so it could become what it is today—the two aviators from Bendigo will carry that tradition into the future by becoming the first Australians to circumnavigate the globe in an Australian designed and manufactured aircraft.

While the spirit of adventure is well established in both pilots, there is also a deep commitment pulsing in both of them to benefit their fellow human beings. This world record achievement is also about raising awareness of one of the world’s most devastating disease—malaria. This is a disease which takes almost three million lives each year, most in Third World nations and mostly infants and children. Tim and Ken are hoping to raise $1 million towards this very worthy cause. I know all of Bendigo is extremely proud of them and all Australians should be equally proud of their quest to create history and to raise awareness of and work towards their goal of eradicating this tragic disease, which is one of the Millennium Development Goals. I know all members of this House will join with me in wishing Ken and Tim all the best in this magnificent cause.