Air Australia: Canvas and Sticks (episode 1) (3-Day Rental)

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The cauldron of World War One's rough and ready airforces breed a range of gun-ho flyers so keen to stay in the air, they start a new battle – to launch Australia's first domestic airlines. It's the start of a movement that shatters Australia's notorious tyranny of distance, reducing travel time across the country from weeks to days. Throughout the period pilots continue to fly by the seat of their pants, in planes that can barely stay in the air, yet they manage to cross the world and its vast oceans. It's a period of endless suspense, thrills and spills, highlighted by Sir Charles Kingsford Smith's famous 1928 Pacific flight from the United States to Australia.

(2006, 55 mins) A Film Australia National Interest Program in association with Vue DC. Produced with the assistance of ScreenWest, Lotterywest and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

© National Film and Sound Archive of Australia, Screenwest.