Page 16 - David Coles Australian Military Aircraft Book Interior Sample

8
BRISTOL BOXKITE
CFS3 at Point Cook, 1915
Australian Army Flying Museum
Type: Bristol Boxkite Trainer
and on 3 January 1911, Joseph Hammond, a Bristol exhibition pilot, made the first flight in Western Australia. The aircraft were also flown in Melbourne where the first passenger flights were made, including that of the first woman to fly in a powered aircraft in Australia. The second Boxkite was taken to Sydney, where the first aerial photographs in Australia were taken. One of these photographs caused an immediate stir with the Army when a photo of the Bear Island Fort installation in Botany Bay showed the entire layout. The aircraft was sold to William Hart, the first person to qualify for a pilot’s licence in Australia.
When the Central Flying School (CFS) was set up in Point Cook, a Boxkite was included in the first aircraft order, and this airframe, CFS3, became the first Austra- lian Military aircraft to fly on 1 Mar 1914. A further airframe was ordered, but was unable to be delivered, so CFS8 was constructed by the maintenance staff and students from spare parts. This aircraft made its first flight on 10 August 1915 effectively doubling the basic training capability of CFS at the time. Two more, manu- factured by the Graham-White company, operated as CFS11 and 12 until January 1918.
On 3 October 1916, Lt Mowle crashed CFS8 into one of the Point Cook hangars. While Mowle received bad bruising, the aircraft was written off and converted to components. By late 1917, CFS3 had become un-flyable and was also reduced to components. In January 1918, both CFS11 and 12 were struck off charge as they were no longer viable training aircraft once the DH-6 trainers had arrived.
There are at least two replica Boxkites in Australia, one of which is at the Army Aviation Museum at Oakey, QLD; another, more authentic, reproduction was built by Ron Gretton and Geoff Matthews in 2013/14 in time for the one-hundredth anniversary of the first mili- tary flight in Australia. On 11 September 2013, Air Vice- Marshall Mark Skidmore, a highly experienced test pilot, took the aircraft into the air at Point Cook, exactly 99 years to the day after LT White crashed the original CFS3 (which was rebuilt many times) into the first Point Cook hangar.
Crew:
Wingspan:
Length:
Height:
Engine:
Empty Weight:
Max Weight:
Max Speed:
Service Ceiling:
Armament:
Serial Numbers:
2
14.17m (46ft 6in) 11.73m (38ft 31⁄4in) 3.61m (11ft 0in)
1 x Gnome 7-cylinder Omega rotary piston engine – 50hp (37kW)
408kg (900lb) 522kg (1,150lb) 64km/h (40mph) 3,330m (10,000ft) Nil
CFS3, CFS8, CFS11 & CFS12
The Boxkite was the first product of the Bristol Aeroplane Company, and the first British aircraft to be ‘mass-produced’. The type’s first flight was on 30 July 1910, and it became instantly popular with training schools in the UK due to its docile handling and slow top speed.
Only six of the type came to Australia; however, they conducted many firsts and should be celebrated as being at the forefront of popularising aviation and its capabilities, both civil and military.
Two Boxkites were brought to Australia in 1910,
AUSTRALIAN MILITARY AIRCRAFT