Round-the-World Flights

Qantas "Goodwill Flight" Round-the-World

Page 4u (rev: 1000)

Ceremonial Scroll	Advertisement	Super-G Constellation	Captain Bruce w/Scroll	Captain Bruce w/Scroll

	The England-Australia Air Race was won by Ross and Keith Smith, 
who landed in Darwin on December 10, 1919.  This race was the indirect 
cause for the start of what was to become Australia's international 
airline and the second oldest airline in the world. Two young ex Flying 
Corps lieutenants, Hudson Fysh and P. McGinness had been given the job 
of surveying the last leg of the race preparing landing fields between 
Darwin and Queensland. 
	From their survey work, they became convinced that air transport 
was the only reliable method of transport in Australia's outback.  With 
the backing of Fergus McMaster, on November 16, 1920 they registered an 
air company based at Winton, Queensland. It was called, Queensland And 
Northern Territory Aerial Services Limited (QANTAS).  Their first two 
years were spent carrying joy-riding passengers and in November 1922, 
they began regular service between Charleville and Cloncurry.  Their air 
service was extended to Normanton and in 1928, Cloncurry became the base 
for the world's first flying doctor service (operated by QANTAS for the 
next 21 years).  In 1931 QANTAS Limited began its collaboration with 
Imperial Airways on the Australia-London run and carried mail between 
Brisbane and Darwin.  In January 1934, the two airlines formed Qantas 
Empire Airways.  QEA flew the Brisbane-Darwin sector and in 1935, it 
took over the Darwin-Singapore sector from Imperial.
	In 1938, the Short "Empire" Flying Boats were introduced on this 
route and QANTAS flew as far as Karachi, Pakistan.  In 1942 this route 
was cut off by the warring Japanese.  QANTAS began to operate the Catalina 
Flying boats between Perth and Ceylon. 
	After WW-II,  QANTAS purchased Constellations to fly the "Kangaroo" 
route to London via Singapore.    In anticipation of offering round-the-world 
commercial flight service, Qantas flew its Super-G Constellation (Southern 
Aurora) on a news-gathering exploratory round-the-world flight dubbed, 
"Operation Goodwill." This inaugural flight carried journalists, TV 
commentators, radio broadcasters, all  from countries serviced by Qantas.  
Captain in Command (pilot) Ralph Bruce along with co-pilot, AA Barlow
flew their Lockheed Super-G Constellation landing in 12 Countries on 4 
Continents in 18 Days.  They carried a Ceremonial Scroll signed by dignitaries 
in each country covering 28,000 miles round-the-world.
	On January 14, 1958 QANTAS commenced commercial round-the-
world flight service. 

Itinerary:

Departed Sydney Australia on December 20, 1957
Auckland New Zealand
Nadi Fiji
Honolulu HI
San Francisco CA
New York NY -------------------December 25, 1957 (Christmas)
London England
Frankfurt Germany
Rome Italy --------------------December 31, 1957 (New Year's Eve)
Athens Greece
Karachi Pakistan
New Delhi India
Bangkok Thailand
Singapore
Arrived Sydney Australia on January 8, 1958

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