Editing Hudson Fysh (section)

===Survey of the Great Air Race===
[[File:Hudson Fysh with Nieuport 23 during WWI.jpg|thumb|right|Lieutenant Wilmot Hudson Fysh standing in front of a [[Nieuport Scout]] aircraft]]
On 28 February 1919, at [[Heliopolis (Cairo Suburb)|Heliopolis]], Fysh received his flying licence, graduating as a [[fighter pilot|scout pilot]].<ref name=adb/><ref>{{cite web|access-date=9 October 2007|url=http://cas.awm.gov.au/PROD/cst.acct_master?surl=998615590ZZZCMLGCTSDUK71543&stype=4&simplesearch=&v_umo=&v_product_id=&screen_name=&screen_parms=&screen_type=RIGHT&bvers=5&bplatform=Netscape&bos=Win32|title=Image of Fysh' pilot licence at the Australian War Memorial}}{{dead link|date=December 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref name=QAN>{{cite web|access-date=9 October 2007 |url=http://www.qantas.com.au/info/about/history/details3 |title=The Men Who Established Qantas |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071008204909/http://www.qantas.com.au/info/about/history/details3 |archive-date=8 October 2007 |url-status=dead }}</ref> In March 1919, an announcement was made by the [[Prime Minister of Australia]], [[William Morris Hughes]], of a [[England to Australia flight|Great Air Race]] for the "first successful flight to Australia from Great Britain in a machine manned by Australians".<ref name=pg17>Stackhouse (1995). "...from the dawn of aviation", p. 17</ref> The prize money was [[Australian pound|£A]]10,000 (or [[Pound sterling|£8,000 sterling]]), under the condition that the flight is completed within 720 hours, and before midnight of 31 December 1919.<ref name=pg17/> Deciding to join the race, Fysh regrouped with Paul McGinness as his co-pilot.<ref name=BT>{{cite web|access-date=19 July 2009|url=http://www.qfom.com.au/theBigTrip.html|title=QANTAS Founders Outback Museum—The big trip|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090912074147/http://www.qfom.com.au/theBigTrip.html|archive-date=12 September 2009}}</ref><ref name=SI>{{cite web|access-date=9 October 2007 |url=http://www.qantas.com.au/info/about/history/details1 |title=Qantas history—The Inspiration |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927001309/http://www.qantas.com.au/info/about/history/details1 |archive-date=27 September 2007 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

To fund the race, McGinness approached [[Samuel McCaughey|Sir Samuel McCaughey]], the man who donated the plane that McGinness flew in for [[World War I]].<ref name=BT/> McCaughey agreed to fund the race, and they were joined by [[Arthur Baird]], their flight-sergeant engineer during the war.<ref name=pg17/><ref name=bau>Brown (1997). "Aviation History", p. 17.</ref> Prior to the race, on 25 July 1919, McCaughey died and his executors refused to honour his agreement with McGinness. As a result, plans for the race were abandoned.<ref name=BT/><ref name=SI/> Instead, Fysh and McGinness were commissioned to survey Northern Australia for the preparation of the Air Race, by [[Major-General]] [[James Gordon Legge]] (later [[Lieutenant-General]]) from the [[Department of Defence (Australia)|Defence Department]].<ref name=SI/><ref name=gov>{{cite book |title=Linking a Nation: Australia's Transport and Communications 1788 – 1970 |url=http://www.ahc.gov.au/publications/linking-nation/index.html |year=2003 |publisher=Australian Heritage Commission |isbn=0-642-23561-9 |chapter=Chapter 8 The Rise of Civil Aviation to 1970 |chapter-url=http://www.ahc.gov.au/publications/linking-nation/chapter-8.html |access-date=16 October 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071031222028/http://www.ahc.gov.au/publications/linking-nation/index.html |archive-date=31 October 2007 }}</ref> They were instructed to survey the route from the town of Longreach, past [[Katherine, Northern Territory|Katherine]], and ending at the state capital of [[Darwin, Northern Territory|Darwin]], in the [[Northern Territory]].<ref name=pg18>Stackhouse (1995). "...from the dawn of aviation", p. 18</ref><ref name=fpoe>{{cite news |title=Flight paths of endurance |work=Features |page= 61|date=31 July 2006}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |first=Bruce |last=Harris |title=Magnificent machines, home-grown legends |url=http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/12/16/1071336964936.html?from=storyrhs |work=The Sydney Morning Herald |date=17 December 2003 |access-date=8 December 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121020013800/http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/12/16/1071336964936.html?from=storyrhs |archive-date=20 October 2012 }}</ref>

Arriving in Longreach in August 1919, they acquired a [[Ford Model T|Model T Ford]], as a transport for the survey, and were accompanied by a mechanic, George Gorham.<ref name=pg18/><ref name=QAAG>{{cite web|access-date=9 October 2007|url=http://www.qantas.com.au/infodetail/about/FactFiles.pdf|title=Fact File—Qantas at a Glance|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927230839/http://www.qantas.com.au/infodetail/about/FactFiles.pdf|archive-date=27 September 2011}}</ref> Leaving Longreach on 18 August 1919, the group traveled through [[Winton, Queensland|Winton]], Kynuna and McKinlay, reaching the town of [[Cloncurry, Queensland|Cloncurry]] on 20 August 1919.<ref name=BT/> They were the first people to travel across the [[Gulf of Carpentaria]], using an automobile.<ref name=adb/><ref name=pg18/> The team traveled through [[Burketown, Queensland|Burketown]], the stations of Westmoreland and Wollorgorang, before reaching Hobble Chain Creek.<ref name=BT/> From there, they traveled through Big Running Creek, Calvert River, Warbys Lagoon, Snake Lagoon, Fulch River, Werrin River, Fletcher River, Feathertop Creek.<ref name=BT/> As none of the rivers have bridges, the group had to wade across the rivers.<ref name=BT/> Following a route taken by [[Ludwig Leichhardt]] in 1845, they reached [[Borroloola, Northern Territory|Borroloola]].<ref name=BT/> Fysh began a diary of maps and photography, to record their journey across Northern Australia.<ref name=BT/>

[[File:Great air race survey.jpg|thumb|left|George Gorham, Paul McGinness and Hudson Fysh in [[Longreach]]]]
Leaving Borroloola on 25 September 1919, they followed the [[Roper River]], and arriving at Katherine on 8 October 1919. From Katherine, they took a train, ''Leaping Lena'', to Darwin.<ref name=BT/><ref name=pg18/> In total, the pair had traveled through 2180 kilometre in their Model T Ford, taking up 51 days for their trip from Longreach to Katherine.<ref name=fcthkoc>{{cite news |title=Fledgling company that has kept on changing |page=7|work=News and Features |date=15 December 2006 }}</ref> As a result of their journey across the outback, the group found Legge's route lacking the necessary open space for aircraft landing. Fysh and McGinness became convinced that an alternate route through the [[Barkly Tableland]] will be more convenient for the winners of the air race, after talking to some motorcyclists from Sydney.<ref name=pg18/>

Upon reaching Darwin, McGinness and Gorham traveled back to Cloncurry to survey and build landing routes on the way there, while Fysh was to stay in Darwin and create suitable landing strips there and at Katherine.<ref name=pg18/> In a letter addressed to General Legge dated to 30 October 1919, Fysh rejected the use of the [[racecourse]] in Darwin, which was originally picked by [[Reginald Lloyd]] (the head of the first ground survey to find a suitable route for the aircraft), as the landing ground for the winning aircraft. He then suggested an alternate strip, locating one near [[Fannie Bay, Northern Territory|Fannie Bay]], to the north of Darwin.<ref>Gunn (1985). "The Defeat of Distance", p. 12</ref> Shortly before the landing of the Smith brothers, the landing strip at Fannie Bay was completed at the cost of £A700.<ref>Gunn (1985). "The Defeat of Distance", p. 13</ref>

On 10 December 1919, the team of [[Ross Macpherson Smith|Ross Smith]], [[Keith Macpherson Smith|Keith Smith]], Jim Bennett and Wally Shiers, winners of the Great Race, arrived in Darwin and were greeted by Fysh (as the official representative of the Defence Department).<ref name=BT/><ref name=pg18/><ref>{{cite web|access-date=9 October 2007 |url=http://www.australianflyingcorps.org/2004_2002/people/aces/smithross.html |title=Captain Ross M. Smith. KBE, DFC and two bars, MC and bar, AFC |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927003239/http://www.australianflyingcorps.org/2004_2002/people/aces/smithross.html |archive-date=27 September 2007 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Deciding to return to Longreach in May 1920, Fysh met [[Alexander Kennedy (colonist)|Alexander Kennedy]], when he was given hospitality in Kennedy's homestead, ''Bushby Park''.<ref name=pg22>Stackhouse (1995). "...from the dawn of aviation", p. 22</ref><ref name=ake>{{cite book|last=Fysh|first=Hudson|year=1974|title=Australian Dictionary of Biography|publisher=Melbourne University Press|edition=Volume 5|url=http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/|chapter=Kennedy, Alexander (1837—1936)|chapter-url=http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A050018b.htm|pages=14–15|access-date=16 October 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070613123624/http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/|archive-date=13 June 2007|url-status=live}}</ref> As McGinness had stopped at the homestead earlier on his way to Cloncurry, Kennedy told Fysh about McGinness' idea of an airline service for the region.<ref name=pg22/><ref>{{cite news|first=Leon|last=Gettler |page=12|title=How to succeed in business without really naming |work=Business |publisher= The Age (Melbourne)|date=8 January 2007 }}</ref>