1898-1934
aviator
born on 18 October 1898 at Middle Park, Melbourne in Victoria
Dark brown, curly hair and olive skin. Liked by those who worked with him. He had a good
sense of humour, a lot of energy and courage. He was extremely good at organising, for
example, the flights with Kingsford Smith.
My name is Charles Ulm and I represent ‘Advance Australia’ because I was an
air travel adventurer. I backed several early Australian aircraft companies, halved the
record to fly all the way around Australia with Kingsford Smith in 1927 and (also with
Smithy) co-piloted the first flight from California, U.S.A. to Australia across the
Pacific Ocean in 1928. In 1934 I flew the first official mail from Australia to New
Zealand.
IDEA
FOR SCENE: It is 1929 on the north-west Australian coast where the Glenelg River meets the
sea. Charles Ulm and Kingsford Smith are lost. They were on their way to
England to buy aircraft for their company, Australian National Airways Ltd when their
plane, a Fokker named Southern Cross, lost radio contact with the ground, hit bad
weather and was forced to land. They have been waiting for rescuers for thirteen days.
What they do not know is that one of their former business partners, pilot Keith Anderson,
and Robert Hitchcock died trying to find them. There is also a rumour going around that
they were only pretending to be lost to get more publicity.
