Talk:Daly Waters Airfield

Daly Waters Airfield

Daly Waters Airfield. Thank you for your prompt reply. I have never made any changes to any Wikipedia article, although sometimes I have thought about it. I feel that you could do a better job than I. I have written a short story on the history of the town of Daly Waters as part of a book on Australian towns I am writing. I picked-up the inaccuracies whilst researching the story. The comments below also apply to the Wikipedia page on Daly Waters, as it also mentions the airfield. I understand the old adage that “Absence of evidence, is not evidence of absence”. But several of these points are just plain wrong; there is no evidence to support their inclusion. You may use the information below, but not verbatim from my book.

Under the heading of “History”:

1. Daly waters was not an international airfield, as no commercial flights left there for international destinations. The only airline that flew international routes from Daly Waters was Qantas. But they stopped at Darwin before continuing to Singapore. You can see this at: http://timetableimages.com/ttimages/qf3504.htm , and clicking on the timetables of 1935 – 1938. 2. The story states that the airstrip was used for the London to Sydney air race of 1926. There was no London to Sydney air race in 1926. There were London to Sydney air races in 1919 & 1934, but neither had travelled via Daly Waters. The nearest thing to an air race in 1926 was the arrival of Alan Cobham who had flown from London to Melbourne and return to London. However, his route in Australia did not include a stop in Daly Waters. He may have made an unscheduled stop, as he did in Camooweal, but if he did, it was not recorded. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article54860039 . 3. The airfield was constructed in 1929-30 as part of the airmail route throughout Australia. In preparation for the airmail service, a hanger, with adjacent oil store, was built in 1929 and transported to Daly Water in 1930 by Sidney Williams, a well-known builder of steel buildings under his “Comet” brand. https://northernterritory.com/katherine-and-surrounds/see-and-do/daly-waters-aviation-complex , and https://northernterritory.com/articles/sidney-williams-huts . 4. Neither Australian National Airways or Guinea Airways ever flew to Daly Waters. This can be seen from their timetables: https://www.timetableimages.com/ttimages/an1.htm , and https://www.timetableimages.com/ttimages/gj1.htm . 5. The flight schedules for both Ansett-ANA and TAA are simplistic and wrong. Checking through the timetables is very time consuming, but this is what I have written for the book: After the war, commercial flights resumed at Daly Waters with TAA being the main user. In the late 40s and early 50s, they generally operated two flights a week in the afternoon northbound from Adelaide, and two flights a week in the morning southbound to Adelaide. In the early 50s, they generally operated two flights a week in the afternoon northbound from Brisbane, and two flights a week in the morning southbound to Brisbane. In mid and late 50s, the flight from Adelaide was cut to one flight a week in the morning, and one flight a week also in the morning southbound to Adelaide. In the late 60s and until April 1970, the flights to Adelaide were cut to one flight a week in the morning. The northbound flight from Adelaide did not stop at Daly Waters. No further TAA flights landed at Daly Waters. Ansett-ANA only operated flights through Daly Waters during the late 60s. They operated one northbound flight a week from Adelaide that stopped at Daly Waters in the evening. The southbound flight did not stop at Daly Waters. The timetables are at: https://www.timetableimages.com/ttimages/an2.htm , and https://www.timetableimages.com/ttimages/tn.htm . Maluwipu (talk) 10:42, 1 August 2022 (UTC)