Charles Kingsford Smith

Charles Kingsford Smith was an Australian aviator who led the first transpacific flight from the United States to Australia in 1928.

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Southern Cross (aircraft): A Fokker F.VIIb/3m trimotor used by Charles Kingsford Smith for major long-distance flights. This aircraft carried Kingsford Smith and his crew across the Pacific in 1928.
Charles Ulm: An Australian aviator who partnered with Kingsford Smith on several record-setting flights. Ulm co-piloted the 1928 Pacific and Tasman crossings.
Fokker F.VII: A family of high-wing transport aircraft developed by the Dutch company Fokker. The Southern Cross was a trimotor variant of this aircraft family.
Commercial aviation: The operation of aircraft to transport passengers or cargo for payment. Record flights helped demonstrate the possibilities of long-distance air transport.
First transpacific flight: The 1928 flight that crossed the Pacific by air from the United States to Australia. Kingsford Smith commanded this milestone journey in the Southern Cross.
Harry Lyon: An American navigator and aviator who served aboard the Southern Cross. Lyon navigated the 1928 transpacific flight.
Dead reckoning: Navigation by calculating position from a known point, speed, direction, and elapsed time. Crews used it when ocean crossings put landmarks and reliable fixes out of reach.
Aviation in Australia: The development and use of aircraft in Australia. Kingsford Smith's feats became prominent milestones in the country's aviation history.
First flight across the Tasman Sea: The first successful airplane crossing of the Tasman Sea, completed in 1928. Kingsford Smith and Charles Ulm made this crossing months after the Pacific flight.
James Warner: An American radio operator who flew aboard the Southern Cross during its Pacific crossing. Warner maintained radio communications on Kingsford Smith's 1928 flight.