The first airplane to land in Singapore (apart from earlier exhibition flights) was flown by Captain Ross Smith with three crew members, landing on 4 December 1919 on the pioneer flight linking England to Australia. The first Royal Air Force (RAF) plane landed about four and a half years later.
Captain (later Sir) Ross Macpherson Smith; Lieutenant (later Sir) Keith MacPherson Smith as navigator, Sgt Bennet and Sgt Shiers flew a modified Vickers-Vimy biplane. The plane touched down on the old Race Course (now Farrer Park) at 4:48 pm on Thursday 4 December 1919. This first "England to Australia" flight left Hounslow on 12 November 1919 and left Singapore on Saturday 6 December 1919 for Batavia, completing the trip in 28 days and winning the prize of 10,000 pounds offered by the Commonwealth Government to the first plane to complete the flight in 30 days. The MacPherson Smith brothers were both knighted for their pioneer effort and the achievement of this memorable feat.
The first Royal Airforce (RAF) plane landed in Singapore on 20 April 1924.
Replica
Supported by National Geographic, the "Shell Spirit of Brooklands Vimy", a replica of the original Vickers-Vimy, retraced the original route taken by the Smiths. The recreation of the flight took place in 1994, with pilots Peter McMillan and Lang Kidby.
The details of the plane are as follows:
Wingspan: 21 m.
Weight: 3,227 kg.
Speed: 150 km/h.
Author
Vernon Cornelius
References
Hutton, P. (1981). Wings over Singapore: The story of Singapore Changi Airport (pp. 18-19). Singapore: MPH Magazines.
(Call no.: RSING 387.736095957 HUT)
Singapore fly-past: A pictorial review of civil aviation in Singapore, 1911-1981 (pp. 11, 15-17). (1982). Singapore: MPH Magazines.
(Call no.: RSING 387.7095957 SIN)
Tyers, R. K. (1976). Singapore, then & now (p. 472). Singapore: University Education Press.
(Call no.: RCLOS 959.57 TYE)
Singapore Facts and Pictures (p.148). (1996). Singapore: Ministry of Culture.
(Call no.: RSING 959.57 SMCFFS)
Replica of first plane here touches down (1994, October 8). The Straits Times, p. 22.
Further Readings
Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts. (2002). Transport - Singapore firsts. Singapore Infomap. Retrieved June 16, 2003, from www.sg/flavour/fact_transport.asp.
List of Images
Photographs and text of first plane Singapore fly-past: A pictorial review of civil aviation in Singapore, 1911-1981 (pp. 15-17). Singapore: MPH Magazines.
(Call no.: RSING q387.7095957 SIN)
The information in this article is valid as at 1997 and correct as far as we can ascertain from our sources. It is not intended to be an exhaustive or complete history of the subject. Please contact the Library for further reading materials on the topic.
