July 16th Traditional Cache

OTD - 16:7 

Perhaps you want a smiley for every day of the year or maybe a birthday smiley. For whatever reason these 12 mini monthly power trails are here to be found. Most are easily located, with an occasional sneaky one in the mix, sat lock can be difficult in some areas.

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 - July 16th 1914

Australia's first interstate air mail departs Melbourne. 

The first domestic airmail service in Australia departed from Melbourne on 16 July 1914. The airmail was flown from Melbourne to Sydney by French aviator Maurice Guillaux. The first airmail from overseas arrived in Darwin from England in a war-surplus Vickers Vimy bomber in 1919 piloted by a WW1 Ace, Ross Smith and his brother Keith. 

It was another twelve years before the first official overseas air mail service from Australia commenced. The first official air mail flight from Australia to England took place in 1931 and consisted of 25 bags, weighing a total of about 300 kilograms. The first aircraft to carry the mail overseas was supposed to have been an Imperial Airways flight, but it was forced to make an emergency landing on Timor. Thus, aviator Charles Kingsford Smith was called in to fly from Darwin to Burma in 'The Southern Cross' in order to meet up with the Imperial Airways craft which then carried the mail to England.