Bert Hinkler
| Bert Hinkler | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
8 December 1892 Bundaberg, Queensland |
| Died | 7 January 1933 (aged 40) Pratomagno Alps, Italy |
| Occupation | Pioneer Aviator, inventor |
| Spouse(s) | Hannah (Nance) Javis (de facto, 1920s–33 Katherine Rome (m. 1932) |
| Children | None |
| Parent(s) | John William & Frances Atkins (née Bonney) Hinkler |
| Awards |
Distinguished Service Medal (1917) Britannia Trophy (1920, 1928, 1931) Air Force Cross (1928) FAI Gold Air Medal (1928) Segrave Trophy (1931) |
Herbert John Louis Hinkler AFC, DSM (8 December 1892 – 7 January 1933), better known as Bert Hinkler, was a pioneer Australian aviator (dubbed "Australian Lone Eagle") and inventor. He designed and built early aircraft before being the first person to fly solo from England to Australia, and the first person to fly solo across the Southern Atlantic Ocean. He married in 1932 at the age of 39, and died less than a year later after crashing into remote countryside near Florence, Italy during a solo flight record attempt.
Hinkler was born in Bundaberg, Queensland, the son of John William Hinkler, a Prussian - born stockman, and his wife Frances Atkins (née Bonney) Hinkler. In his childhood, Hinkler would observe ibis flying near a lake at his school. After gaining an understanding on the principles of flight, he constructed and flew two gliders on beaches near his home town. He later met Arthur Burr Stone, at a travelling show in Bundaberg and again at the Brisbane Exhibition where Hinkler worked with Stone to solve a problem with the "Blériot", the world's first monoplane. In 1913, Hinkler went to England where he worked for the Sopwith Aviation Company, the beginning of his career in aviation.
During the First World War, Hinkler served with the Royal Naval Air Service as a gunner/observer in Belgium and France, for which he was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal. In 1918 Hinkler was posted to No. 28 Squadron RAF with which he served as a pilot in Italy.
Hinkler was an "exceptional mathematician and inventor" and "made a lot of aviation instruments which were in use up until the Second World War." For example, "one was a gadget to correct drift as airplanes fly a little bit on their side, not straight ahead." Furthermore, "in WWI, Hinkler invented a machine gun adaptor for air gunners. Back then, when the biplanes were flying upside down in combat, the hot, ejected shells would fall and burn the chest of the gunners as they fired. Hinkler's invention had the ejected shells all flying off to one side instead."
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