A hero’s welcome for pioneer

Hinkler’s daring and sense of adventure made him famous. After he arrived back in Australia he undertook a tour around Australia to meet his fans, flying into major cities and small country towns alike.

When Hinkler flew into a town he got a rock star welcome, with enormous crowds cheering his arrival and jostling to meet him. The reaction became known as ‘Hinkler hysteria’.

Here in Cessnock a committee that was raising money to erect memorial gates to honour the late NSW state politician, William Kearsley (1863-1921) had run into financial trouble.

A suggestion was made to ask Bert Hinkler to visit, they believed his popularity could be used to raise much-needed funds.

Much to the committee’s pleasure Hinkler agreed.

Even better, he was to stay overnight.

At 4.15pm on 6 June 1928 Hinkler and his wife, Katherine, flew in from Maitland, landing on the Cessnock Racecourse ground. Ten thousand people, estimated to be the largest crowd ever assembled in Cessnock, roared their support.

The next morning, as Hinkler prepared to fly out to Armidale, he discovered that the tail and the undercarriage of his plane were both damaged. Most probably this had happened when he had landed the day before.

And so Bert Hinkler stayed in Cessnock for another four days while repairs were undertaken.

For the first two nights he slept underneath the wing of his plane, on a stretcher bed from the racecourse’s First Aid room.  The plane itself was housed under the verandah of the racecourse stand.

Local mechanics and tradesmen had their 15 minutes of fame as they assisted the world-famous aviator repair his plane, with his extended stay in the town becoming source of great delight to the residents.

On 11 June 1928 Hinkler finally flew out.  

He was killed less than five years later, on 7 January 1933, when his plane crashed in the Italian Alps while attempting another solo flight from England to Australia.