Flying to Australia is a chore today, but 85 years ago, Imperial Airways and Qantas launched an audacious service with the wonderful Shorts C.23 Empire Flying Boat. These aircraft cut the journey from Southampton to Sydney to around nine days and, more importantly than the passenger service, allowed for a new rapid air mail service across the Empire. Phil Vabre is the President of the Civil Aviation Historical Society in Australia and runs the superb Airways Museum at Essendon Airport, just on the edge of Melbourne. Phil is the chap to talk to about the flying boat service to Australia and in part 1 of a two-part chat, we look at the origins of the service, the creation of the C-Class flying boat and what logistics were required to keep these marvellous aircraft in the air.

You can learn more about the Civil Aviation Historical Society and the Airways Museum at Essendon at their website here: https://www.airwaysmuseum.com/ 

You can check out Phil's flying boat articles in The Aviation Historian, issues TAH9, TAH17, TAH31 and TAH32 via their website where you can get the back issues and subscribe here: https://www.theaviationhistorian.com/ 

• Please check out our sponsor, the Pima Air and Space Museum, through the links below: Visit the Pima Air and Space Museum’s website here: https://pimaair.org/
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