Here are some facts for this day. You are welcome to log your interesting, quirky or fun fact/s with your log.
On This Day - March 18th 1910
American escapologist, Harry Houdini, makes Australia's first officially recorded controlled, powered flight of an aircraft.
Frederick C 'Fred' Custance is believed by some to be the first person to fly a powered aircraft in Australia. Custance flew a Bleriot monoplane for 5 minutes and 25 seconds near Bolivar, South Australia, on 17 March 1910. The flight was witnessed by F H Jones, owner of both the aircraft and the property where the flight took place, but later conflicting accounts by Jones have cast doubt on who flew the aircraft, and whether or not the flight did, in fact, even take place.
The first controlled flight of a powered aircraft in Australia to be authenticated took place on 18 March 1910, by American escapologist, Harry Houdini. Houdini powered a Voisin biplane, reaching an altitude of about 30 metres over a distance of ten kilometres for 7 minutes and 37 seconds. At least thirty people were present to witness the flight near Digger's Rest, a small town about 30km northwest of Melbourne, Victoria. It was Australia's first officially recorded powered flight.