__NOTOC__ The Western Australian Centenary Air Race (also known as the East-West Air Race) was a

air race Air racing is a type of motorsport that involves airplanes or other types of aircraft that compete over a fixed course, with the winner either returning the shortest time, the one to complete it with the most points, or to come closest to a prev ...

held in 1929 from

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

to commemorate the

centenary of Western Australia In 1929, Western Australia (WA) celebrated the centenary of the founding of Perth and the establishment of the Swan River Colony, the first permanent European settlement in WA. A variety of events were run in Perth, regional areas throughout the ...

. The £1000 handicap winner was Horrie Miller and the £300 fastest overall time prize was won by Briton Major

Hereward de Havilland Hereward de Havilland (2 December 1894 in Nuneaton, Warwickshire – 12 September 1976 in Australia) was a pioneer British aviator, test pilot and member of the de Havilland company. One of the three sons of Rev. Charles de Havilland, he was ...

(22 hours 50 minutes 23 seconds), who flew the course solo, the only competitor to do so, in a modified de Havilland

Gypsy Moth ''Lymantria dispar'', also known as the gypsy moth or the spongy moth, is a species of moth in the family Erebidae. ''Lymantria dispar'' is subdivided into several subspecies, with subspecies such as ''L. d. dispar'' and ''L. d. japonica'' bei ...

. Determining results in the handicap event was found to be a difficult task, with type of machine, weather conditions, wind direction and strength of wind for each half day's hop, supplemented by times of starting being taken into consideration. 700 people had turned out at

Kalgoorlie Kalgoorlie is a city in the Goldfields–Esperance region of Western Australia, located east-northeast of Perth at the end of the Great Eastern Highway. It is sometimes referred to as Kalgoorlie–Boulder, as the surrounding urban area includ ...

to see the competitors off on the final leg of the race. Victorian C.D. Pratt and his co-pilot J.R. Guthrie were both seriously injured when their Gypsy Moth ''Corio'' crashed near Baandee, east of Perth. Weather conditions after leaving Tammin were said to be atrocious, with at least one forced landing and one crash. The 17 teams left from

Mascot A mascot is any human, animal, or object thought to bring luck, or anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, professional sports team, society, military unit, or brand name. Mascots are also used as fi ...

in Sydney on 29 September 1929 and 14 managed to finish at

Maylands Aerodrome Maylands Airport (also known as Maylands Aerodrome, Maylands Airfield) on the Maylands Peninsula, in Maylands, Western Australia, was the main landing place of a significant number of record breaking flights in the early stages of flight in Aust ...

on Sunday 7 October.

Fastest times

# H. de Havilland (22 hours 50 minutes 23 seconds) # Heath (23.24.51) # Miller (23.31.58) # Cunningham (26.56.52) # Pentland (27.14.44) # Eaton (28.17.30) # McKay (29.23.10) # Bardsley (29.37.58) # Davies (29.32.54) # Manifold (30.31.58) # Farmer (31.35.7) # Knapman (32.4.49) # Lee Murray (32.30.0) # Penny (32.56.20)

References

{{reflist

Fastest times

See also

References

Further reading