Last March Graham was at Temora at the Antique Aeroplane Association of Australia's annual fly-in. He came over to have a look at the recently restored Rapide, up from Moorabbin. Unable to fly his RV-4, he had driven up from Wagga especially. He had Rapide endorsement approval. His future services in this area were discussed.
Graham was a true aviation mine of information, steeped in the lore, always recounted modestly and quietly. And only if the other party showed any interest. He was in fact the antithesis of an aeroplane nerd, or anorak. In his early high school days he used to roam the old Bankstown hangars, especially that of Sid Marshall . (Marshall Airways .. . with DH84 Dragons and Douglas DC-2s.) . One day he was in Sid's hangar, attempting to tidy up some mess in a far corner, when Sid called from his tiny dog-box office. Sid said come over in here now please Graham, there's a man I'd like you to meet. It was Arther Butler, one of Sid's closest friends from the twenties and thirties; Arthur who had founded Butler Air Transport. Knowing the story of Arthur's flight from England to Australia in 1930 in the tiny single seat Comper Swift, to Graham, Arthur Butler was one of the greats of the pioneering era of flight and fliers.
Claude Graham White was a pioneer of British Aviation, particularly before the First World War. With a twinkle in his eye, our Graham would sometimes say, if his namesake happened to be mentioned in conversation, that while they were not related he thought a little of the spirit of the earlier White lived on in him, perhaps.
It would be a significant tribute to Graham's legacy if it included an increased knowledge and respect for our rich annals composed of those who came before, laying down a tradition, legends even, all of which go back along a long path that reversed, leads us right up to today.
Joining and supporting, as Graham did, the Aviation Historical Society of Australia, will always be a good start. Their journal 'AVIATION HERITAGE' has
evolved into a fine publication, covering the whole gamut, technical, biographic and anecdotal.