About this record

This is a letter from the Managing Director of the Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services Limited (Qantas) concerning the expected first trip of what is now the Royal Flying Doctor Service. The letter announces the company's intention to commence use of the Aerial Ambulance immediately, using the services of Dr K St V Welch and the pilot AH Affleck. The letter also deals with administrative details, stating Qantas' intention to send claims regarding mileage costs, as well as reports on trips carried out by the flying doctor scheme in support of those claims, to the Controller of Civil Aviation.

Educational value

• Marks the historic beginnings of the Royal Flying Doctor Service in Australia, flying from Cloncurry in 1928, the first such service in the world – the Service was initially known as the Aerial Medical Service and was started by the Reverend John Flynn (1880–1951), a Presbyterian missionary who saw an urgent need for an aerial ambulance and medical services in outback communities.




• Reveals that the headquarters for the Aerial Medical Service were at Cloncurry, Queensland – Reverend Flynn chose Cloncurry as the base for the service because it had a hospital, a Qantas aerodrome and a telephone and telegraph network.




• Refers to the Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services Limited, now known worldwide as Qantas – formed in 1920, Qantas established Australia's first regular flights from Cloncurry to Charleville in 1922, for the first time making it easy to travel to remote regions; in 1928 it was contracted to operate medical flights on demand.




• Refers to the aerial ambulance, the 'D.H. 50A G-AUER' – this was a four-passenger biplane supplied by Qantas for the fledgling organisation, a De Havilland model DH50 imported from Britain and dubbed Victory.




• Refers to the AIM, which stands for the Australian Inland Mission – Flynn had raised funds for the Aerial Medical Service through the efforts of the AIM and with the support of industrialists, doctors and Hudson Fysh, one of the founders of Qantas.




• Names the pilot, Arthur Affleck, and Dr Kenyon Welch, and is dated 16 May 1928, the day before the 'flying doctor' answered its first call – in its first year the service flew 28,129 kilometres and attended 255 patients, who were suffering a range of medical complaints, from typhoid fever to gunshot wounds.




• Reveals that Qantas had a three-digit phone number (316) – in 1928 most Australians could not afford a telephone, and telephones were mainly used by businesses and the wealthy; as more Australians were able to afford telephones, the number of digits in phone numbers increased.




• Is an example of a document typed on a manual typewriter – as there was no ability to correct mistakes at the time, this required great accuracy on the part of the typist.