Early Mudgee aviation
The Mudgee Guardian of February 24, 1921, reported that Jack Austin, a popular and energetic citizen who had made such a great success with his Mudgee motor garage and Buick selling agency has now turned his eyes towards aviation.
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Mr Austin departed yesterday on the Mudgee evening train to Sydney for the purpose of taking delivery of his recently acquired Avro aeroplane.
He has purchased the Holyoak Hotel and a paddock adjoining A. Smith's property at Burrundulla which he is converting to an aerodrome. It is expected that the paddock will become the descending ground for aeroplanes of the future, which are expected to come from all parts of the State to Mudgee.
Jack's aeroplane is the very latest and the most up to date machine flying in New South Wales. This machine is the Standard 504 modified Avro, and is fitted with 100-h.p.
Dyak water cooled engine. It has a flight range of 600 miles non-stop. The Avro has three seats, one for the pilot and two for passengers. The plane's engines are started by turning a geared crank handle in the cockpit.
No more manually "swinging the prop". Initially the plane will be flown by veteran WW1 pilot "Gerry" Pentland while Mr Austin is taking flying lesson from "Gerry's" companion experienced pilot Nigel Love.
The week-end after the plane arrived, flown by Pentland, accompanied by Austin it flew to Coolah, for the purpose of those attending the local agricultural show so Coolahites would have the opportunity of seeing the Coolah Valley from the air.
Flights were conducted all day from the nearby Scully's paddock.
The charge was two pounds five shillings, per person per flight. One Coolah youth introduced to pilot Pentland was W.R. "William" MacBeth.
Both met again when "William" was a passenger on an Australian National Airway's plane being flying to Northern Queensland. Alexander A.N.D.
"Gerry" Pentland was born in 1884 at West Maitland. He went to Kings School at Parramatta and the Brighton Grammar School in Melbourne.
In 1915 he enlisted on the AIF and served with the 12th Australian Lighthorse Regiment at Gallipoli. Two years or so later he joined the Royal Flying Corps, serving as flight commander with No. 87 Squadron.
His tally for shooting down enemy aircraft totalled 23 and on the August 3, 1918, he won the Distinguished Flying Cross. After claiming two more enemy aircraft, he was shot down and wounded, thus ending his RFC career.
After be returned to Australia as a civilian he selected Mudgee where he operated joy flights until August,1921, when he joined the Royal Australian Air Force.
Holding the rank of flight lieutenant he was appointed as flight commander at No. 1 Flight Training School at Point Cook. Service in World War 2 won him the Air Force Cross. "Gerry" died on November 3, 1983, at Narrabeen.
Nigel Borland Love was born in Kurrajong 1892, and attended the Sydney Boys High School. In 1915 he enlisted in the AIF and was selected to attend the government's new flying school at Richmond.
In 1917 he embarked for Britain and was posted to several flying and gunnery schools.
From 1918 he served in France with the Australian Flying Corps. In World War 2 as a wing commander in the RAAF he commanded no. 2 wing of the Air Training Corps.
The Corps was formed in 1942 for initial training of youths 16-18 years of age who wished at the age of 18 years to enter air-crew classification in the RAAF. Mudgee had its own ATC squadron.
Jack Ivan Austin, garage man, formerly of Mudgee died in Sydney on December 30, 1940, being survived by his wife and 11 children.