Our Journey

The Experimental Section was an experimental aircraft design and testing section of the Royal Australian Air Force formed at Randwick, Sydney and produced a number of aircraft designs before closing in 1930. The Commanding Officer of the Station was Lawrence Wackett who was an early trainee pilot at Point Cook and became the leading figure in Australian aircraft design and construction.

Flight Lieutenant Ellis Wackett made a freefall parachute jump from a D.H.9a over RAAF Base Richmond, the first time this had occurred in Australia.

In recognition of their achievement in crossing the Pacific Ocean by air in the tri-motor Southern Cross, Charles Kingsford Smith and Charles Ulm were awarded the Air Force Cross and appointed to honorary rank in the Air Force, following a precedent set with Bert Hinkler earlier in the year.

An ex-RAF Gloster Meteor F.3 took off from Laverton, Victoria, on the first test flight of a jet aircraft in Australia. It was flown by Squadron Leader Derek (‘Jell’) Cuming, who earlier that year became the first RAAF officer to complete the Empire Test Pilots course. The Meteor had been received at No 1 Aircraft Depot the previous month and was provided on loan by the British War Ministry to enable the RAAF to gain experience in operating a radical new type. Two days later the aircraft was taken on RAAF strength with the tail number A77-1 and allotted to No 1 Aircraft Performance Unit for trials. Australia did eventually acquire the Meteor for squadron service, but only in 1951. By that time the de Havilland Vampire had already become, in 1949, the first jet acquired in numbers for the RAAF.

Lincoln A73-2 from No 1 Air Performance Unit at Point Cook, Victoria, conducted a pioneering flight from mainland Australia to the edge of the Antarctic zone, collecting meteorological data and photographing Macquarie Island which lies 1466 kilometres south of Tasmania. The aircraft was airborne for 14 hours 35 minutes and completed the flight in deteriorating weather. This effort was seen as an essential precursor to the scientific voyages launched by the Australian National Antarctic Research Expedition (ANARE) from December 1947.

Three Neptune maritime patrol aircraft from No 11 Squadron arrived back at Richmond, New South Wales, after completing Operation Westbound—the first round-the-world flight by the RAAF. The aircraft had departed on 20 February.

A RAAF C-17A Globemaster III undertook a trial flight to Antarctica on this day, as part of plans to explore the use of the aircraft in delivering cargo for the Australian Antarctic Division. This led to a successful joint operational mission with the Australian Antarctic Division and Royal Australian Air Force to East Antarctica later in November, with a C-17A delivering heavy lift cargo to Wilkins Aerodrome in support of the Australian Antarctic programme. The C-17A flew the 3450km, landing at Wilkins Aerodrome near Casey station on 21 November 2015 where it unloaded cargo, including a brand new Hägglunds, a dual cab vehicle that operates over snow and infrastructure building materials.