Western Sydney pioneering pilot William Ewart Hart – better known as Billy – has been inducted into the Australian Aviation Hall of Fame.
This achievement follows a decade-long campaign by distant relative Greg Andrews, who received an award and presented a speech at the induction on March 14.
“Billy Hart was born in Parramatta in 1885 and died in 1943 at the age of 58 years,” Andrews said in his speech at the gala dinner.
“I’d like to take you back to an age now when you didn’t crash a plane – you simply had a ‘mishap’. You didn’t take risks – you had ‘pluck’. You weren’t an aviator – you were referred to as a ‘Birdman’.”
Hart’s passionate descendant told Parra News that the pilot was a man of many firsts. He was the first to fly cross-country in New South Wales and the first Australian-born person to fly an aircraft solo in Australia.
“He was the first to get a No.1 pilot’s licence in Australia; he was the first to have an aviation school at Penrith in January 1912; and he was the first to have an Australian air race in June 1912 against American pilot A.B. Stone. He beat the American with a slower biplane, which was incredible,” Andrews listed amongst more achievements.
He hopes to see Billy Hart recognised beyond the Hall of Fame.
“I started a campaign around two or three years ago to rename the Western Sydney International Airport after Billy, but Nancy Bird Walton – another worthy pioneering pilot – won out on that one,” Andrews said.
“So, I’ve missed out there, but the terminal can be named after a different pilot!”
And if that should come to fruition, a key design element would put the cherry on top of Billy Hart’s commemoration.
“If a terminal is named after a pioneering pilot, there is usually a pioneering plane hanging from the ceiling,” Andrews pitched.
“I think the trend now is to have a cardboard replica hanging from the ceiling. But it doesn’t even need to be a replica, it could be a painting of a box kite.”
In the meantime, you can find monuments for Billy Hart at Ron Mulock Oval and Parramatta Park.
Ally Hall joined the team 2024, and focuses on entertainment and community stories. She is a graduate of the University of South Australia.