Survey of the Great Air Race aircraft On 28 February 1919, at
Heliopolis, Fysh received his flying licence, graduating as a
scout pilot. In March 1919, an announcement was made by the
Prime Minister of Australia,
William Morris Hughes, of a
Great Air Race for the "first successful flight to Australia from Great Britain in a machine manned by Australians". The prize money was
£A10,000 (or
£8,000 sterling), under the condition that the flight is completed within 720 hours, and before midnight of 31 December 1919. To fund the race, McGinness approached
Sir Samuel McCaughey, the man who donated the plane that McGinness flew in for
World War I. Prior to the race, on 25 July 1919, McCaughey died and his executors refused to honour his agreement with McGinness. As a result, plans for the race were abandoned. They were instructed to survey the route from the town of Longreach, past
Katherine, and ending at the state capital of
Darwin, in the
Northern Territory. Arriving in Longreach in August 1919, they acquired a
Model T Ford, as a transport for the survey, and were accompanied by a mechanic, George Gorham. Leaving Longreach on 18 August 1919, the group traveled through
Winton, Kynuna and McKinlay, reaching the town of
Cloncurry on 20 August 1919. As a result of their journey across the outback, the group found Legge's route lacking the necessary open space for aircraft landing. Fysh and McGinness became convinced that an alternate route through the
Barkly Tableland will be more convenient for the winners of the air race, after talking to some motorcyclists from Sydney. Shortly before the landing of the Smith brothers, the landing strip at Fannie Bay was completed at the cost of £A700. On 10 December 1919, the team of
Ross Smith,
Keith Smith, Jim Bennett and Wally Shiers, winners of the Great Race, arrived in Darwin and were greeted by Fysh (as the official representative of the Defence Department). Deciding to return to Longreach in May 1920, Fysh met
Alexander Kennedy, when he was given hospitality in Kennedy's homestead,
Bushby Park. As McGinness had stopped at the homestead earlier on his way to Cloncurry, Kennedy told Fysh about McGinness' idea of an airline service for the region.
Foundation of Qantas After reuniting at the Cloncurry Post Office, McGinness and Fysh started to make plans to build their airline service, confident in the future of commercial aviation. Writing about his experiences in the outback in his autobiography, Fysh commented that: Earlier on, McGinness had met a grazier, Fergus McMaster, when McMaster's car
axle had broken down on a bed in
Cloncurry River. McGinness fixed the car, gaining the respect of McMaster. McGinness and Fysh headed off to
Brisbane, further developing their plan along the way. Coincidentally, McMaster also went to Brisbane. Upon realising this, Fysh and McGinness, explained their airline plans to him. As a result, on 20 June 1920 in Brisbane's
Gresham Hotel, McGinness, Fysh, McMaster and Alan Campbell, an adviser for the Queensland Primary Producers, began to register the new airline company. A main investor for Qantas was Ainslie Templeton, a friend of Fergus McMaster and a woolgrower in the Longreach district, who promised to match McMaster's investments in the "air service project", upon being told of the idea. Fysh and McGinness then traveled through the towns in the Northern Territory and Queensland, asking for investments for the airline. They were met with positive responses. Qantas was formed on 16 November 1920, with Fysh, McGinness, McMaster, Ainslie Templeton, and Alan Campbell in the Gresham Hotel, with an initial paid-up capital of £A6,700 (£5,360 sterlings). The job of
executive chairman of the airline was given to McMaster, with Winton becoming the head office and "the official birthplace of Qantas". Partially due to McMaster's intervention, the original plans for air-taxi work and joyriding gave way for airmail services, which would link communication in the settlements between Darwin and Longreach. McMaster summarised it as "an aerial mail service from Longreach to Port Darwin, connecting at Winton, Cloncurry, Avon Downs, Anthony Lagoon, Newcastle Waters and The Katherine", therefore making it the longest direct air service in the world at that time. Another plan for Qantas came forth with Dr
Frederick Archibald Michod, a doctor and aviator in Longreach who became foundation director of Qantas after its formation. Visiting cattle stations and private properties to give medical treatment, Michod was aware of the difficulties faced in the outback. Establishing a hospital in Longreach, he often used his aircraft as an aerial ambulance. He proposed an idea for a "
flying doctor", which would later take form in the late 1920s with the Presbyterian minister,
John Flynn. The airline was provided with a wool store as their first
hangar by A.J.B. McMaster, owner of Alba Woolscour, original Qantas shareholder and older Brother of Sir Fergus McMaster. On 7 February 1921, the first and only Qantas
board meeting in Winton was held in the Winton Club, three days after the pilots landed, on 10 February. A quick decision was made to move Qantas headquarters to Longreach, which would be more central to operations, with easier access to passengers and spare parts. – two Avro 504K with
Sunbeam Dyak engines, bought at £A1,425 each. The purchase for the 504K was dated 19 August 1920, and under the name of
The Western Queensland Auto Aero Service Limited. After being informed that the Dyak engine was ready by the owner of the Aerodrome, Nigel Love, on 23 November 1920; they were told that the Avro 504K would be ready by December. However the aircraft was delayed until 25 January 1923, upon which McGinness send a wire message to McMaster stating that all tests have been complete with satisfactory results. Fysh, who was also in Mascot, was left redundant due to the cancellation of the second Avro 504K, until Charles Knight, a Longreach stock and station agent, requested him to fly a
RAF B.E.2e back to Longreach. Despite only having thirty minutes of practice on the BE2e during his pilot licence training, Fysh agreed to fly it, with Baird as his passenger. Fysh later stated that "when I took the aeroplane over, the problem of my own temporary redundancy was solved". On 31 January 1921, 6 days after McGinness sent the message to McMaster, McGinness, Fysh and Baird took off from Mascot aiming to reach
Moree before dark. Joining McGinness, who had safely arrived in Singleton, they flew northwards; stopping at Moree,
St. George,
Charleville,
Blackall, and then at
Barcaldine, the last stop before reaching Longreach. Meeting at Barcaldine with McMaster, who had caught the train from Rockhampton to the town, McMaster decided to fly with them to Longreach, hoping their arrival in the town would be "impressive and historical". With Ainslie Templeton accompanying McMaster and McGinness in the Avro, Fysh flew with the owner of the aircraft, Charles Knight, to Winton on 7 February 1921. The trip of one and a half hours took considerably longer than that, with McGinness steering in the wrong direction, causing them to lose their path. They finally reached Winton after 3 hours of flight, with 15 minutes worth of fuel left. After "landing gracefully" to the cheering of a crowd in Winton, they were "entertained at a
smoke concert at the North Gregory Hotel." In the hotel, McMaster outlined the links between aviation and defence, in reference to the future of Qantas. The next day, the 2 aircraft took off from Winton to return to Longreach. With Knight as his passenger in the BE2e, Fysh lost his way, missing Longreach by ; he navigated his way back to the town by following the Thompson River. The journey, coupled with the earlier delayed trip when flying from Longreach to Winton, proved to be too much for Knight, who sold the BE2e to the company upon landing, swearing that "nothing would induce him to fly again." The cost of the aircraft was £A450 which was partially bought, as insisted by McMaster, in the form of shares to the airline company.
Further career with Qantas In 1922, Qantas was successful in bidding for the second Australian scheduled air route, which was to be established between
Charleville and
Cloncurry. The route was backed by the government, procured by relations between Qantas and regional politicians. While still piloting regularly until 1930, hard working Fysh studied business and management, and became managing director in 1923. When the airmail route to England was planned, Qantas successfully tendered, with Fysh involved in planning the route in the years 1931 to 1933. The final agreement saw Qantas flying the airmail to Singapore, where British
Imperial Airways would take over. 1934, Qantas and Imperial Airways built a new company, Qantas Empire Airways, with both companies holding 50% of the stock. Fysh became managing director in the new formed company as well. He was also a co-founder of the
Tasman Empire Airways Ltd in 1940, which later should become
Air New Zealand.
Second World War was hitting the prospering business of Qantas hard. Japanese attacks in Singapore destroyed half of Qantas' fleet, the airport in
Darwin was under attack as well. Fysh, still an officer in the
RAAF, took responsibility for using Qantas equipment in war-related efforts, for example evacuation and supply flights. In 1946, the Australian government bought Qantas for market value. Fysh was the only manager of the company who supported this course of events. After finishing the negotiations, he became chairman of now government-owned Qantas, succeeding his co-founder McMasters. In 1955 he retired from the position as managing director. After controversies with the rest of the Qantas board, he eventually retired as chairman in 1966. ==Published works==