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Old 31st May 2003, 11:44
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Sid Departure
 
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: New Zealand
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Author Ian Mackersey has written an excellent book on the life of Sir Charles Kingsford Smith, titled "Smithy". A must read for anyone interested in aviation.
An interesting point brought up in the chapter that deals with this flight in 1935, is that back in 1985 when the TV series "A Thousand Skies" was made, the production crew simulated this oil tranfer incident. They found it impossible to pour any oil into their full size mock up, due to the wind. This resulted in some suspicion that the event may have been a hoax to gain publicity.
This understandably caused wide spread anger amongst may people. However further investigation revieled that in 1945 RAAF mechanics had found small shards of glass from the thermos in the left engine, giving credence to the events that unfolded during this flight.
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