History:

This aircraft was a homebuilt light aircraft built in a terrace house at Redfern in Sydney before World War II. A press report in the Daily Telegraph newspaper from April 1910 described it as the “First Australian-Built Aeroplane”.

A monoplane, it was built by two mechanics, Messrs F Kolta and J G Newman and was powered by a 15 kw (20 hp) three-cylinder liquid cooled engine which was also built locally and which drove a broad, paddle-like propeller. It was conveyed to the Randwick rifle range in December 1910 for testing. A press report at the time indicates it was taken to Rosehill and a match had been arranged between the monoplane and the Voisin biplane of Harry Houdini (Erik Weisz).

However, there is no record of it having been flown. Operation of the aircraft was transferred in 1910 to George Augustine Taylor, and he called it the ‘Building Australia Aeroplane”. He appears to have done this as his own monoplane was unsuccessful as the engine built for it was unsuccessful. Taylor suggested that he would be the pilot when flight trials commenced.

Further information:

Information on this aircraft is currently limited. The Author welcomes any further specifications and/or details to update the site.