Australian Flying Magazine Wins Southern Cross Award

Since its inception in 2011, the AAHOF has honoured 51 Australians who have made outstanding contributions to the advancement of aviation and aerospace in this nation. AAHOF has further recognised 10 organisations who have also made outstanding contributions to aviation and aerospace through the Southern Cross Award. Four exceptional individual candidates have been identified for induction into the Australian Aviation Hall of Fame in 2023, and one organisation has been recognised through the bestowal of the Southern Cross Award.

The inductees for 2023 are Christine Davy MBE, Raymond Parer AFC, John McIntosh AFC and Edgar Johnston DFC. The Southern Cross Award winner is Yaffa Publication, Australian Flying Magazine.

Southern Cross Award Winner: Australian Flying Magazine

Australian Flying is one of Australia’s most comprehensive, popular and enduring aviation publications, having been produced for more than 60 years. The magazine has had a keen following of its stories, and its commentary on the General Aviation industry for many years. That the magazine has continued to remain relevant, informative, and a strong voice of the GA sector for 60 years, is a great testament to the people that operate the publication and write for the magazine.

Editors have strongly debated the issues confronting the industry in a balanced and non-partisan way. It is particularly important to have that central voice speaking out when the industry itself so often struggles to find common ground. The magazine has earned the respect, not only of general aviation, but of a wider industry audience; and of course, has outlived many competitors – a sign of relevance and importance.

“Australian Flying has been serving the general aviation community for over 60 years, inspiring, informing and entertaining. The magazine has grown from very humble beginnings in 1963 to a respected and enduring publication,” said editor Steve Hitchen.

“To be awarded the 2023 Southern Cross Award by the Australian Aviation Hall of Fame is recognition of decades of hard work by those that believed in the value of Australian Flying and good aviation journalism: the Yaffa family and the team at Yaffa Media, the many people who have edited and contributed over the years, the advertisers that continue to support the work and, perhaps most of all, the readers.

“We owe so much to so many, and are excited about the Southern Cross Award and the fact that decades of work by all involved will be recognised in the Australian Aviation Hall of Fame,” he said.

Inductee: Christine Davy MBE

Christine Davy was born in 1934, and is a former Australian alpine skier who competed at the 1956 and 1960 Winter Olympics. Following her retirement from competitive skiing, Christine became a pioneering female airline pilot flying the DC-3 and the Fokker F27 for Connellan Airways in Alice Springs. She was the first Australian woman to hold a 1st Class Air Transport Pilot’s Licence (ATPL), and the first woman to hold a Helicopter ATPL.

In 1963, Christine received the Nancy Bird Trophy for her service to aviation from the Australian Women Pilots’ Association. Christine was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire on 1 January 1970 for her service to civil aviation.

In 1974, Christine became the first woman in Australia to be employed as a pilot of a passenger airline, Connair, based in Alice Springs NT. Christine is still an active member of the Australian Women Pilots’ Association and resides in regional New South Wales.

Inductee: Raymond Parer AFC

Raymond (Ray) Parer was born in Melbourne in 1894 and was involved in aviation at an early age, serving as a motor engineering apprentice in Melbourne. Ray enlisted in the Australian Flying Corps in 1916, initially as a mechanic, but then trained as a pilot, with the rank of acting sergeant. He trained on box kites at Point Cook and was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in 1917.

Ray undertook further flying training in England and was promoted to Lieutenant in early 1918. He served as a test and ferry pilot with the Royal Air Force (RAF) twice recommended for the Air Force Cross (AFC). After the end of First World War, the Australian government offered a prize of £10,000 for the first flight from England to Australia. Ray paired with John McIntosh, and although leaving well after the event had already been won, they arrived in Darwin on 2 August 1920. Their aircraft was an Airco DH-9, G-EAQM (known as ‘PD’) and theirs was the only other entrant to successfully complete the race. It was the first single-engine aircraft to fly from England to Australia.

Ray and McIntosh were awarded the Air Force Cross (AFC) for this feat in 1920, as well as £500 each. He founded a commercial aviation service in Melbourne in 1920, and also competed in a number of aviation events and competitions. He attempted to be the first pilot to circumnavigate Australia in October 1921 but ended with an accident on take-off at Boulder, Western Australia in February 1922. Ray later became a pioneer of aviation in New Guinea, one of the most hostile environments to operate an aircraft. In 1942 as the Japanese threatened New Guinea, Ray served as an RAAF Reserve Officer in the Royal Australian Air Force.

Ray died in 1967, having spent the last years of his life as a farmer in Mount Nebo, Queensland.

Inductee:  John McIntosh AFC

John McIntosh AFC was a British-born Australian aviator, having been born in Scotland in 1892, later emigrating to Western Australia. At the outbreak of the First World War in 1914, John enlisted in the Australian Army Medical Corps, serving with the 4th Field Ambulance in Gallipoli, reaching the rank of Corporal.

In 1918, John transferred to the Australian Flying Corps and commenced flying training in England. He was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in 1919 and promoted to Lieutenant. After the end of the First World War, the Australian government offered a prize of £10,000 for the first flight from England to Australia. John joined Ray Parer and although leaving well after the event had been won, they arrived in Darwin on 2 August 1920. Their aircraft was an Airco DH-9, G-EAQM (known as ‘PD’), and theirs was the only other entrant to successfully complete the race. He and Ray Parer were awarded the Air Force Cross (AFC) for this feat on 23 November 1920, as well as £500 each.

In 1921, John McIntosh was killed in an aircraft accident crash near Pithara in Western Australia. It was the first ever fatal aircraft accident crash in that state.

Inductee: Edgar Johnston DFC

Edgar Johnston was born in Perth, Western Australia in 1896. He commenced studying at the University of Western Australia in 1914, but left his studies and enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) in 1915. After serving at Gallipoli, he joined the Royal Flying Corps in 1917. He trained in England initially flying with No. 24 Squadron, later transferring to No. 88 Squadron, flying Bristol Fighters.

Edgar is credited with shooting down 20 German aircraft between his entry into the war and the end of the war in 1918, making him the eighth highest-scoring Australian pilot of the war. In late 1918, he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) for a patrol in which he defeated two superior German flights. Edgar Johnston returned to Australia in 1919 and commenced working in the Civil Aviation Branch as Superintendent of Aerodromes, selecting the sites for Mascot (now Kingsford Smith International), Essendon and Parafield among others.

In 1929, he was appointed Deputy Controller of Civil Aviation, serving under Horace Brinsmead. When Brinsmead was incapacitated in 1931, Johnston became acting controller until he took the office in 1933. He was directly responsible for many advances in Australian civil aviation, including the creation of Australia’s first international air service in 1934 and Australia’s embryonic air traffic services system in the late 1930s. In 1938, with the creation of the Department of Civil Aviation, Johnston became Assistant Director General. During the Second World War, Johnston oversaw the enormous contribution of Australian civil aviation to the war effort. In 1955, he retired from the Department of Civil Aviation, and took up a position with Qantas until his retirement in 1967. Edgar Johnston died in 1988.

Formal Induction Dinner

A formal gala induction and awards dinner will be conducted at the Australian Aviation Hall of Fame at the HARS Museum,on the 21st of October 2023. The event commences with canapes and welcome drinks at 4:30pm. The main event will commence at 5:30pm. Those being inducted will be invited to attend the event in person. The families of those inductees who are no longer with us will be invited to attend, as will representatives of Australian Flying Magazine, as the recipient of the Southern Cross Award, Individual seats and/or tables of 10 for the gala dinner can be booked through our website.