Captain Joseph HammondPrint Page

The plaque commemorates Captain Hammond who in 1911 flew a powered aircraft near the site of the future Sydney Airport.

On the 18th April 1911 , Captain Joseph Joel Hammond, a New Zealander, flew a Bristol box-kite biplane on a flight that lasted less than 10 minutes. Thousands of paying spectators crowded what was then the Ascot Racecourse to see one man in a flying contraption fly a course of about 10 kilometres.

The flight was the opening Sydney event on a national tour by Hammond, during which his wife, Ethelwyn, had already become the first female passenger on an aircraft in Australia.

Captain Hammond flew in World War One, became a test pilot and died on active duty in the United States when an aircraft he was flying on a war bonds promotional tour in 1918 crashed into a tree. He was buried in the Crown Hill Cemetery in Indianapolis.

The Hammond tour of 1911 was even more remarkable for the capabilities of the flying machine, which demonstrated that aviation was undergoing rapid advancement, including carrying up to two passengers as well as the pilot. Today the Ascot Racecourse has vanished without trace, its site forming part of the eastern end of Sydney Airport’s east-west runway and the current long term car park.

Location

Details

Dedication