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HOME OF THE LADY DENMAN - Local history isn't always about the big story - the everyday story of life in the early development of the region can be a fascinating, entertaining and educational journey.

6 January 2015

The day the Sea Gull Landed on Jervis Bay.


In 1921, an Arial survey was commissioned from Sydney to the Victorian boarder, the main stretches photographed, and places suitable for the establishment of aerodromes marked.

During this trip the little sea plane known as the “Sea Gull” landed on Jervis Bay or “the Ditch” as it was described by Napier Lion and his partner Shellback.
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He describes his delight at seeing Huskisson for the first time.

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The following day they ran the nose of their aircraft onto the spit opposite Huskisson to the delight of the gathering crowd. The sea gull crew then took their ‘live freight” for scenic flights over the bay.
 

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Supported and accompanied by the sailing vessel the “Acielle”  she carried supplies and repair equipment, it was decided to bring the plane into Currambene creek and onto the government slipway for inspection, astonished to find the hull covered in barnacles' they used petrol and elbow grease to clear the growth before applying new varnish.

He describes his slight encounter with a fishing vessel that might have damaged the plane and the effort required to get it ready for flight.

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Time to leave the bay.

Ready to get back into the air, Napier describes the difficulty they experienced with the tide “the tide was running at an absolute banker” getting stuck on the spit, and going to great physical effort to get her floated and into the air for the next part of the journey.

He describes running into a fog bank south of the bay and flying close to the cliffs and as low as 50ft over the ocean to clear the fog.

The whole story of their time at Huskisson makes great reading, you can see the story by clicking on the link here.
 http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/page/16898017

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