Susan Burn

Displays

1. Smithy: the extraordinary life of Australia's most famous aviator. This is my main display covering the period 1919-1935. I show his many record-breaking flights with original flown covers and extensive use of supporting ephemera.
2. The MacRobertson Air Race: covering the Great Air Race of October 1934 and the reasons for its importance as the bellweather that marked the move to all metal aircraft produced by mainly American manufacturers such as Douglas.
3. The Rise of the Flying Boats and the Empire Airmail Scheme with particular reference to the Imperial Airways Eastern route to Australia and NZ. I make use of a substantial amount of supporting documentation that gives an important insight into the formation of the route and in particular the extension onto NZ.
4. The Route between UK & Australasia in WW2; Following on from Talk 3, I show the changes to civilian mail routes as a result of the conflict with particular reference to the Horseshoe route and the importance of NZ as a result of the introduction of the Pacifc Airmail Service.
5. Alan Cobham & The Cornwall Aviation Co: Alan Cobham rose to fame for his survey work in developing the Imperial Airways Routes to India, Australia and South Africa before focusing on the National Aviation Day and In-Flight re-fuelling. Percival Phillips developed Cornwall Aviation as a national display and joy riding firm to join with Alan Cobham and his National Aviation Day campaign. An interesting exploration of civil aviation from the UK perspecive.
6. Charles Ulm: Australia's unlucky aviator, covering the perios 1926-1934. I explore why Smithy's business partner failed to achieve his ambition to run an airline with international mail contracts.
7. Post war Civil Aviation: This display examines what was the "new normal" for civil aviation as World War II ended. Focussing on BOAC, Quantas, TEAL and BCPA. I look at the changes in the way airmail charges were calculated, the end of some censorship and the impact of continued conflict such as China on the airmails. For the first time airlines were able to show that you could fly round the world in either direction.