Bert Hinkler

[Herod]

Can anyone shed light on the routeing taken on his flight to Australia in 1928? Sources I have found say that he flew Malta - Benghazi - Tobruk, a distance of 980 miles, and the following day flew Tobruk - Ramleh, a distance of 350 miles. This doesn't seem to add up. The distance for the first day is more like 640 (statute, of course), while the second day would be about 650. The map published in "Flight" at the time puts Tobruk more or less where Alexandria is, which would agree with the distances quoted. Was there another Tobruk, which I can't find, even with the help of Google Earth?

[Warmtoast]

His routing and itinerary as published in The Times at the time:

[Herod]

Thanks for that, Warmtoast. The itinerary more or less agrees, although there is a discrepancy over the dates. The total distance Malta to Ramleh (present-day Ramla?) is correct; it's the legs that are puzzling. According to what I've been able to find, on the 9th he flew Malta - Benghazi - Tobruk, and on 11th Tobruk - Ramleh. The total according to the source is 1330, and the Times article suggests 1300. That's split 980/350. However, if it's really Tobruk, the distances per day are more like 650/650.

I've decided to go to the horse's mouth, and I'm trying to contact the Hinkler Museum in Oz. I'll let you know how I get on.

[Herod]

It just shows that it is worthwhile to go back to original sources. The Hinkler Museum in Bundaberg came up trumps, and forwarded me a scan of his log as published at the time. What isn't apparent from the usual histories is that he spent two nights in the desert. On 9th Feb he flew Malta - Bengahzi, and then, three hours later, landed in the desert just short of Tobruk. Presumably, since it was 17:20, because of darkness (?). Next day he flew to Tobruk (30min), then at 16:30 landed in the desert again, "near the Egypt-Palestine border" to stop overnight. On the 11th he flew to Ramleh. Makes an adventurous story even more so.

[blaireau]

Have you tried contacting a guy named David Cyster. ISTR him replicating Hinkler's flight 20+ years ago.

[Herod]

Thanks, I'll look into that. I've also just got hold of a book on Hinkler, so I'll see what that says. I'm pretty sure he landed in the desert because of darkness. Sunset at Tobruk for that date is 18:05, and he landed at 17:20, presumably local time. Next day he was off at 07:20, and landed at Tobruk 07:49. Would just about have made it in daylight the previous day, but no point in pushing his luck.