Above the smoke and stir of this dim spot
Which men call earth.

But who is this? What thing of sea or land?
Female of sex it seems.
That so bedecked, ornate and gay,
Comes this way sailing
Like a stately ship,
Of Tarsus, bound for the isles
Of Javan or Gadire,
With all her bravery on and tackle trim,
Sails fill'd, and streamers waving,
Courled by all the winds that hold their play,
An amber scent of odorcus perfume
Her harbinger,

Milton (Samson Agonistes)

We were four in all - James, and G Cann, M's L.A., the chauffeur and your truly; and we motored through the staid old hamlet of Ryde, along country roads, flanked by orchards and nurseries, past high steepled churches, clad with flowering vines, to Parramatta, thence by that old road, which before railways were built, over a hundred years ago, was travelled by Governer Macquarie, in his positioned coach, and accompanied by soldiers, "armed with muskets," as he went on his way to The Green Hills, now Windsor. we passed through the township in question and a few minutes later we reached Clarendon where is situated the N.S.W. State Aerodrome, and where building necessary for the housing and tuition of students are either completed, or in course of construction.

Five minutes later, Mr Stutt, one of two eperts who recently arrived from the Old Country to take charge and to instruct students, had a Curtiss machine out of the hangar, and the "guzzer" was being attended to by members of the staff. She looked then for all the world like a huge grasshopper with her two front running wheels, from which she takes off, and upon which she alights after a flight, her almost transparent wings, light yet strong; and her elongated body, in the centre of which are two cabins, the foremost for the passenger, the back one for the operator. Ready for his work, Mr. Stutt sat in his cabin with his hands on the levers, whilst the engine buzzed, and the propellers whizzed round and created a current of air that would whisk the hat off the head of a man standing 10 yards at the rear. I got into the foremost cabin, had a strap secured around me, gave final attention to my headgear and goggles, and the order to "let her go" came from the operator. You've seen a wild turkey making ready for flight - it runs along some distance before it gets its way on then its wings get to work and it rises in the air and streaks away for a place of safety. That's just how the saucy aeroplane got going and when in the moment she began to rise with marvellous rapidity and the buildings below became mere specks on the landscape, and she swayed just a trifle, and getting into an "air pocket" or vacuum, she dropped till she got atmospheric support again. Well it's only fair to say that my nerves went a little awry. But it was only a minute or so. We were travelling at the rate of 80 miles an hour, and there was a nasty wind blowing up high; but the view from that throbbing, gently swaying machine was magnificent.

Over the sluggish Hawkesbury we soared; there was a broad, sinuous stream, discolored by recent heavy rains and the rush of waters from the mountain, heaven only knows how many thousands of feet below; and along the banks, or it seemed so, the homes of district farmers. The Hawkesbury Agricultural College paddocks and farm plots looked like so many squares of coloured lozenges in green and brown, with ehre and there what seemed to be a cluster of of cubby houses. Then the machine lay somewhat on her right side for a moment as she turned her nose towards Windsor, and we smiled over Clarendon and got close to old St Matthews, one of Australia's earliest places of worship. And whilst a thousand and one thoughts coursed through one's brain, there was time to cogitate as to what Andrew Thompson, Surgeon Arndell, and the others of the long list of worhty pioneers who steep the in St Matthews churchyard, would have to say if they, awakened for the moment by the thud of engines overhead, and, looking aloft saw a winged monster steered by a Man and carrying on it's back a human passenger. But the dead and buried pioneers spake never a word and remained in their narrow beds undisturbed. Then we turned again and saw those rich broad acres which hard toil has made to produce so much in the way of natural wealth, and the stock which grazed below looked no larger than bees, and then came in view the hangar from which we had started, and ten miles beyond the Kurrajong Hills, on which clearings and homesteads could plainly be discerned. It was a brave flight to be sure, and the Curtiss swept down gently earthwards, and her wheels touched the green sward, and like a frightened plover, she ran along some hundreds of yards, and was turned in true workman like fashion, and got back to the point from which she had started twelve minutes before, after having covered a distance of at least 16 miles. It would be idle to say that one does not feel somewhat nervous when making the intial flight - to look down and contemplate the result of a serious accident is enough to cause some feeling of uneasiness. Yet, what a great feat it is to be aloft and to see things that are, from such an altitude. One really couldnt feel other than safe in the charge of so competent and aviator as Mr. Stutt, complete master of his machine and withal so modest and unassuming. Truly there are good times in store for the students who go to his school to learn the art of the aviator, from this well versed and sturdy hearted Man-bird, Stutt.

A run into Windsor and a'chat with several old friends; then the trip back to Sydney, this time by the western-road, by far the vilest track to be found in any civilised country, particurely that part from Granville to Flemington. In the heart of the cannibal islands they have better thoroughfares than we have here in parts of Sydney and it's surroundings; and the idea of sending some of our aldermen there to learn the first principles of road making is worthy of consideration. If they didn't come back, the loss would be easily overcome!




Article sourced from the Windsor & Richmond Gazette courtesy of Carol Carruthers.