You don’t see them much nowadays – hardly any at all in fact. Lasting little more than 12 years, the golden age of the flying boat in Australian aviation history was as brief as it was dramatic. Luxurious Empire Class flying boats that were designed to open international air routes and strengthen ties within the British Empire became targets of Japanese attacks on Australian soil during the World War II. Flying boats set records, suffered tragedy and played a crucial role in keeping Australia connected with the outside world. Following the war, however, the development of longer-range land-based aircraft signaled a slow demise in the role of the flying boat in commercial aviation.

On a sunny day a small white seaplane comes home to roost on the peaceful waters of Rose Bay, Sydney Harbour. Gliding gracefully over the surface, the single-engined Beaver eventually touches the water, leaving a trail of white foam and noise, until finally coming to rest. A lone seabird riding on waters that were once home to a large flock of mechanical pelicans.
None of the truly wonderful Empire Class flying boats nor hardy Catalinas that were once native to Rose Bay remain here. A small commemorative plaque is all that exists to remind passers by of a bygone era in aquatic aviation. It was a time when trans-oceanic flight was a novelty. A time when flying boats were symbols of modernity and luxury; when international travel was not simply a matter of getting from point A to point B, but an adventure.

Flying boats were primarily designed to carry first-class air mail. However, they subsequently characterised romance and adventure. In the 1930s, when international aviation was in its infancy, there were only a limited number of airfields capable of coping with larger aircraft. Added to this was the rather frequent need to stop for refueling on longer journeys – the average flight from Australia to England at the time involved some 31 stops – and the navigational difficulties of flying over open water. An aircraft, which could land wherever there was a large enough patch of calm water and a mooring buoy, presented obvious advantages.

In July 1938, two C Class Empire flying boats arrived in Sydney. Only a month later, the first of these set out for Singapore via Brisbane, Gladstone, Townsville (where it stopped for the night), across the Cape York Peninsula, to Karumba, Groote Eyelandt and on to Darwin. The aircraft then crossed the Timor Sea, flying to Kupang, Bima, Surabaya and Jakarta, before finally arriving in Singapore. There, the service was taken over by British Imperial Airlines, who flew the rest of the route to London via India, the Middle East and Egypt.

The service was started at the behest of the British Government, who was keen to launch the Empire Airmail Scheme, in which all post would be transported by air to every corner of the empire with no surcharge. It was a grand idea that was never to eventuate. Favoured by Qantas, the introduction of the flying boats dramatically strengthened Australia’s aerial links with the wider world, consolidating a commercial air route originating in Sydney Harbour that had been in operation for barely four years.

By today’s standards as well as of the time, they were luxurious. The flying boats carried 15 passengers from Sydney Harbour and a crew of five, as well as 3000 pounds of mail and cargo. There was only one class: first. For slightly more than the average annual wage of the time, passengers experienced interiors so spacious that a game of minigolf or quoits aloft was not out of the question. Cabins could also be converted into sleeping accommodation at night, in much the same way as on a rail journey.

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