Hinkler Hall of Aviation - history
Bert Hinkler
Bundaberg-born Bert Hinkler was a man fascinated by flight. His captivation with the wonders of air travel took him across the world and made him a pioneer and household name in his field.
Herbert John Louis (Bert) Hinkler AFC DSM was born in Bundaberg, Queensland on 8 December 1892, the son of a sugar mill worker. By the age of 19 Bert had hand-built man-carrying gliders and already flew them successfully at picturesque Mon Repos Beach near Bundaberg.
Bert Hinkler died in 1933 at the age of 40. He was endeavouring to establish yet another record-breaking solo flight when his aircraft crashed in the Appennine Mountains in Italy. Such was his celebrity that he was afforded a State funeral and buried with the rich and famous in a Florence cemetery.
For more information on Bert Hinkler visit the Hinkler House Memorial Museum and Research Association Inc.
Life timeline
| 1892 | On 8 December, Herbert John Louis (Bert) Hinkler was born in Bundaberg, Queensland. |
| 1910 | Aero Club was formed in Brisbane by Lindsay Campbell and Bert Hinkler becomes a proud member. |
| 1911 | Bert attends a meeting of the Aerial League in Brisbane, the Aero Club is discontinued, and Bert builds glider number one. At Christmas, Bert begins construction of glider number two. |
| 1912 | In April Bert flew his glider on Mon Repos beach, with the glider later displayed at the Bundaberg and Brisbane Shows. Bert hooked up with American pilot AB Stone on a protracted tour of southern states and New Zealand. |
| 1913 | In August Bert returns to Bundaberg, and later goes to Sydney, the point from which he "worked his passage" to England. |
| 1914 | At Easter Bert arrives in England and obtains work on the bench with the Sopwith Company. In September Bert enlists in the Royal Naval Air Service. |
| 1917 | In December Bert is in England after active service as an Observer/Air Gunner in France and Belgium, and is awarded a Distinguished Service Medal (DSM). |
| 1918 | Bert trains as a pilot and is posted to Number 28 Squadron in Italy, and then becomes involved in the conflict against Austria. |
| 1919 | Bert undertakes a post-war rehabilitation course at AV Roe & Co, working "on the bench" but with the right to fly the company’s own aircraft. |
| 1920 | On 31 May, Bert makes his meritorious flight - London to Turin, non-stop in his 35hp Avro Baby. He then returns to London and is awarded his first Britannia Trophy, later resolving to ship his Avro Baby to Australia. |
| 1921 | On 11 April, Bert makes a record-breaking long distance flight from Sydney to Bundaberg. On 27 April, the Avro Baby is damaged on its return flight by strong winds after a beach landing north of Newcastle, in New South Wales. In May, Bert departs Australia, while his beloved Avro Baby remains. |
| 1921- 1926 | Bert becomes a test pilot for AV Roe & Co. |
| 1925 | Bert becomes a reserve pilot for the British Schneider Cup team in the United States of America. |
| 1927 | Bert tests autogyros for Don Juan la Cierva, and makes a significant long-distance flight in his Avro Avian G-EBOV to Latvia. Bert later makes an aborted attempt on the England-to-India flight record with RH McIntosh in a single-engine Fokker. |
| 1928 | Bert makes his most-renowned achievement, pioneering a solo flight in his Avro Avian (G-EBOV) from England to Australia. He would later return to England, leaving his Avro Avian in Australia. |
| 1929 | In May, Bert began construction of his dream machine, the Ibis amphibian aircraft, and offers his Avro Avian to the Queensland Government as a gift. |
| 1930 | In May, the Ibis takes to the air at Hamble, and Bert visits the United States of America. |
| 1931 | In Canada, Bert acquires a Puss Moth aircraft, originally built in England, and from October to December undertakes a flight from Canada to England via the South Atlantic. |
| 1932 | Bert leaves his Puss Moth in Southampton and returns by sea to North America. He later returns to England to prepare his Puss Moth (CF-APK) for flight to Australia. |
| 1933 | On 7 January, Bert departs London at 0310 hours for his ill-fated journey to Australia. On 27 April, his body and aircraft wreckage would be discovered in the Apennines, followed by a state funeral in Italy and interment in the Florence cemetery. |
Awards timeline
| 1917 | Bert is awarded the Distinguished Service Medal (DSM) for flying performances as an aerial gunner in bombers during World War I in France. |
| 1920 | In May, Bert is awarded the Britannia Challenge Trophy for flight in Avro Baby (G-EACQ). |
| 1924 | Bert wins the Grosvenor Challenge Cup in Avro 562 for light aircraft trials from Avis to Lympne. |
| 1927 | In April, Bert wins the Killjoy Cup at the Bournemouth Air Races, and the Hotels Handicap and Holiday Handicap. In June, Bert wins the Utility Cup and the De Prez Cup in the Bristol Air Pageant. On 26 August, Bert is awarded the Golden Eagle Breast Decoration of the Air Force of Latvia, and the prestigious Oswald Watt Medal in the same year. |
| 1928 | Bert is awarded the Royal Geographical Society of Australia/Asia Medal, the Thompson Foundation Gold Medal for services to the science of aviation, the Gold Medal presented by the Institute of Surveyors, and a diamond wristwatch for Nance Hinkler from the Australian Theatre Business. Bert is later awarded the Air Force Cross (AFC) in recognition of distinguished service rendered to aviation by his solo flight in a light aeroplane from England to Australia. Bert is personally presented with a gold cigarette case bearing the Australian Coat of Arms by the Prime Minister, the Honourable SM Bruce, and sees a platinum and diamond brooch featuring a kangaroo leaping across the world from England to Australia presented to Nance Hinkler by Sir Charles Wakefield at the Savoy Hotel in London. In February, Bert is awarded the Britannia Challenge Trophy for his England to Australia flight, and his second Oswald Watt Medal in the same year. Bert is also presented with the Federation Aeronautique International Gold Medal in Copenhagen for his England to Australia flight of the same year. |
| 1931 | In formal recognition of his South Atlantic crossing, Bert is awarded the Moroccan Cross at the Casablanca Aero Club by the French Commissioner, his third Oswald Watt Medal, as well a Royal Aero Club Gold Medal and the Britannia Challenge Trophy yet again. |
| 1932 | Bert’s South Atlantic crossing in the previous year earns him the Segrave Memorial Trophy, the Johnston Memorial Silver Plaque, and his fourth Oswald Watt Medal. |
Hinkler House
Bert Hinkler built a modest detached house on Thornhill Estate in Southampton, England in 1925. He named the home “Mon Repos” to celebrate the beachside location of the same name in his Australian hometown of Bundaberg where he had fuelled his love of flight.
Following Bert’s untimely death in 1933 the home eventually became the property of the Southampton City Council and was ultimately threatened with demolition.
In 1983 the Hinkler House Memorial Museum & Research Association was formed to oversee the relocation of Bert’s home from Southampton back to Bert’s birthplace of Bundaberg, Australia. In May and June of 1983, the house was painstakingly dismantled brick-by-brick, carefully catelogued and transported to Bundaberg and rebuilt as a memorial museum to honour the deeds of Bert Hinkler.
Self-guided tours of Hinkler House are included in the price of admission to the Hinkler Hall of Aviation.
For more information on Hinkler House visit www.hinklerresearch.org.au.