Charles Kingsford Smith

About Charles Kingsford Smith

Who is it?: Aviator
Birth Day: February 09, 1897
Birth Place: Hamilton, Australian
Died On: 8 November 1935(1935-11-08) (aged 38)\nAndaman Sea
Birth Sign: Pisces
Full name: Charles Edward Kingsford Smith
Cause of death: Crashed in the sea off Burma
Known for: First non-stop crossing of the Australian mainland Trans-Pacific flight England to Australia air race
Air force: Australian Flying Corps Royal Flying Corps Royal Air Force
Battles: World War I Gallipoli Campaign Western Front
Rank: Captain (substantive) Air Commodore (honorary)
Awards: Knight Bachelor Military Cross Air Force Cross Segrave Trophy

Charles Kingsford Smith Net Worth

Charles Kingsford Smith was born on February 09, 1897 in Hamilton, Australian, is Aviator. Sir Charles Kingsford Smith, often called ‘Smithy’, was an Australian aviator, whose passion for flying earned him much popularity across the world. His flying skills and record-breaking flights earned him the title of ‘World’s Greatest Pilot’. He spent his childhood in Canada and Sydney, and though good at studies, he was known to be an adventure loving boy with an interest for riding bikes. After the completing his electrical engineering, he enlisted in the army and it was here that Charles Kingsford Smith realised his passion to pursue flying. However, an attack left him injured and he subsequently had to leave military service. Post his recovery; he attempted various initiatives like beginning joy-riding flight services, establishing air mail transport services etc. During his time, he set multiple flight records including flying the pioneer trans-pacific flight, completing an around-the-world flying expedition, flying in the Australian mainland without stops and establishing an air route between Australia and New Zealand. His achievements were recognised by the armed forces and he was awarded honorary titles and military decorations. He drew international fame due to his bravery, competence and constant pursuit of adventure.
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💰Charles Kingsford Smith Net worth: $600,000

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Biography/Timeline

1897

Charles Edward Kingsford Smith was born on 9 February 1897 at Riverview Terrace, Hamilton in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, the son of william Charles Smith and his wife Catherine Mary (née Kingsford, daughter of Richard Ash Kingsford, a Member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly and mayor in both Brisbane and Cairns municipal councils). His birth was officially registered and announced in the newspapers under the surname Smith, which his family used at that time. The earliest use of the surname Kingsford Smith appears to be by his older brother Richard Harold Kingsford Smith, who used the name at least informally from 1901, although he married in New South Wales under the surname Smith in 1903.

1903

In 1903, his parents moved to Canada where they adopted the surname Kingsford Smith. They returned to Sydney in 1907.

1915

In 1915, he enlisted for duty in the 1st AIF (Australian Army) and served at Gallipoli. Initially, he performed duty as a motorcycle despatch rider, before transferring to the Royal Flying Corps, earning his pilot's wings in 1917.

1917

In August 1917, while serving with No. 23 Squadron, Kingsford Smith was shot down and received injuries which required amputation of a large part of his left foot. He was awarded the Military Cross for his gallantry in battle. As his recovery was predicted to be lengthy, Kingsford Smith was permitted to take leave in Australia where he visited his parents. Returning to England, Kingsford Smith was assigned to instructor duties and promoted to Captain.

1918

On 1 April 1918, along with other members of the Royal Flying Corps, Kingsford Smith was transferred to the newly established Royal Air Force. On being demobilised in England, in early 1919, he joined Tasmanian Cyril Maddocks, to form Kingsford Smith, Maddocks Aeros Ltd, flying a joy-riding Service mainly in the North of England, during the summer of 1919, initially using surplus DH.6 trainers, then surplus B.E.2s. Later Kingsford Smith worked as a barnstormer in the United States before returning to Australia in 1921. He did the same in Australia and also flew airmail services, and began to plan his record-breaking FLIGHT across the Pacific. Applying for a commercial pilot's licence on 2 June 1921 (in which he gave his name as 'Charles Edward Kingsford-Smith'), he became one of Australia's first airline pilots when he was chosen by Norman Brearley to fly for the newly formed West Australian Airways.

1922

During the First World War, Ken Richards had been the observer in Kingsford Smith's plane in France. Later Richards moved to Cowra, New South Wales. Kingsford Smith owned an old Avro plane and in 1922 flew to Cowra to see his old comrade. Kingsford Smith and Richards flew under the Cowra traffic bridge. They also attempted to fly under the nearby railway bridge, but Richards fortunately noticed the telephone lines and pulled the aircraft away only seconds from impact.

1928

Australian aviation enthusiast Austin Byrne was part of the large crowd at Sydney's Mascot Aerodrome in June 1928 to welcome the Southern Cross and its crew following their successful trans-Pacific FLIGHT. Witnessing this event inspired Byrne to make a scale model of the Southern Cross to give to Kingsford Smith. After the aviator's disappearance, Bryne continued to expand and enhance his tribute with paintings, photographs, documents, and art works he created, designed or commissioned. Between 1930 and his death in 1993, Byrne devoted his life to creating and touring his Southern Cross Memorial.

1929

The bodies of Anderson and Hitchcock were later recovered from the Tanami Desert. Hitchcock's body was returned to Perth for burial at Karrakatta Cemetery, while Anderson's body was returned to Sydney. Over 6000 mourners attended Keith Anderson's funeral. It was an elaborate affair befitting a national hero. Anderson was buried at Rawson Park, Mosman, on 6 July 1929. A grand memorial was later erected at the gravesite in his honour.

1930

Collecting his 'old bus', Southern Cross, from the Fokker Aircraft Company in the Netherlands where it had been overhauled, in June 1930 he achieved an east-west crossing of the Atlantic from Ireland to Newfoundland in 31½ hours, having taken off from Portmarnock Beach (The Velvet Strand), just north of Dublin. New York gave him a tumultuous welcome. The Southern Cross continued on to Oakland, California, completing a circumnavigation of the world, begun in 1928. In 1930, he competed in an England to Australia air race, and, flying solo, won the event taking 13 days. He arrived in Sydney on 22 October 1930.

1932

Kingsford Smith was knighted in the 1932 King's Birthday Honours List as a Knight Bachelor. He received the accolade on 3 June 1932 from the Australian Governor-General Sir Isaac Isaacs for services to aviation and later was appointed honorary Air Commodore of the Royal Australian Air Force.

1933

In 1933, Seven Mile Beach, New South Wales, was used by Sir Charles Kingsford Smith as the runway for the first commercial FLIGHT between Australia and New Zealand.

1934

In 1934, he purchased a Lockheed Altair, the Lady Southern Cross, with the intention of competing in the MacRobertson Air Race. He was unable to make it to England in time for the start of the race, and so flew the Lady Southern Cross from Australia to the United States instead; the first eastward crossing of the Pacific Ocean by aircraft.

1935

His most famous aircraft, the Southern Cross, is now preserved and displayed in a purpose-built memorial to Sir Charles Kingsford Smith near the International Terminal at Brisbane Airport. Kingsford Smith sold the plane to the Australian Government in 1935 for £3000 so it could be put on permanent display for the public. The plane was carefully stored for many years before the current memorial was built.

1937

Kingsford Smith was survived by his wife, Mary Kingsford Smith, and their three-year-old son Charles Jnr. Kingsford Smith's autobiography, My Flying Life, was published posthumously in 1937 and became a best seller.

1966

He was pictured on the Australian $20 paper note (in circulation from 1966 until 1994, when the $20 polymer note was introduced to replace it), to honour his contribution to aviation and his accomplishments during his life. He was also depicted on the Australian one-dollar coin of 1997, the centenary of his birth.

1978

A stamp sheet and stamps, featuring the Australian aviators Charles Kingsford Smith and Charles Ulm, were released by Australia Post in 1978, commemorating the 50th anniversary of the FLIGHT.

2005

Lay has worked closely with both the Kingsford Smith and Pethybridge families since 2005. The privately funded project now running in its 8th year has been supported by the government and people of Myanmar.

2009

Opened in 2009, Kingsford Smith School in the Canberra suburb of Holt was named after the famous aviator, as was Sir Charles Kingsford-Smith Elementary School in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

2013

A young New Zealander named Jean Batten attended a dinner in Australia featuring Kingsford Smith after the trans-Pacific FLIGHT and told him "I'm going to learn to fly." She later convinced him to take her for a FLIGHT in the Southern Cross and went on to become a record-setting aviator, following his Example instead of his advice ("Don't attempt to break men's records – and don't fly at night", he told her in 1928 and remembered wryly later).