An airline at the edge of a continent
In the late 1920s, West Australian Airways Ltd. had to show the public that airline travel could be safe, comfortable and genuinely useful. The company linked Perth with the ports of north-western Australia, then opened a major East-West service toward Adelaide in 1929.
This flight plan turns that story into a full crossing: first the Adelaide - Perth mail route over the Nullarbor, then the long coastal climb toward Derby through mining districts, remote ports, open beaches and isolated settlements.
Historical setting
In 1921, West Australian Airways received the Commonwealth's first airmail contract, carrying mail, passengers and freight to the ports of the north-west coast. Perth became the natural hub: the southern end of the route to Derby and the western end of the service to Adelaide.
The company served pastoral districts, mining areas and very remote communities. By the end of June 1929 it had already flown more than 1,214,000 nautical miles, and its network was promoted as one of the largest in the southern hemisphere.
Suggested route
Adelaide toward Perth
This first crossing captures the birth of long commercial routes: plains, the Nullarbor, long distances and rare stops.
YPPF → YCDU → YFRT → YPKG → YPJT
Perth toward Derby
The second axis follows northwestern Australia through port towns, mining areas, pastoral country and vast coastlines.
YPJT → YGEL → YCAR → YOLW → ROEB → YPPD → YBRM → YDBY
Safety fields
Keep intermediate fields as planning references: they are essential to understanding the safety logic of these long routes.
YFRT → YPKG → YPJT / YGEL → YCAR → YOLW
What you will fly over
The Adelaide - Perth section captures the birth of long-distance commercial aviation: wheat fields, empty plains, rare stopovers, the Nullarbor horizon, then Kalgoorlie and Perth. In the historical Perth - Adelaide direction, passengers spent the night at Forrest, in a hotel built in the middle of nowhere to make the journey comfortable.
The Perth - Derby section is a different kind of adventure. It leaves the farming districts, reaches the coast near Hamelin Pool, then continues by Carnarvon, Onslow, Port Hedland and Broome. The route crosses mining country, pastoral land, rivers running to the ocean and Broome's pearl fleets before the final arrival at Derby.
Ground organisation and air mail
The strength of these routes came as much from the ground as from the aircraft. Aerodromes were prepared for fuel, oil, maintenance, windsocks and, in some places, lighting. Emergency landing grounds were placed at regular intervals, roughly every thirty minutes of flying, to make the long crossings safer.
Air mail grew quickly: 10,000 letters per month by late 1923, 15,000 in December 1924, then around 22,000 by 1929. When the Perth - Adelaide service opened, nearly three tons of mail were carried during June 1929. On the north-west route, a large share of the mail soon travelled by air.
Recommended aircraft
The De Havilland DH.66 Hercules, a British trimotor powered by Bristol Jupiter engines, is the ideal choice for this route. If you do not have that model, the period Handley Page W8b is a good FS2004 and FSX alternative, available from FlightSim.com as hpw8bv1.zip. A modern touring twin also works if you prefer a simpler aircraft.
GPS is recommended alongside VOR/DME and ADF/NDB navigation. In the most isolated areas, also use latitude and longitude references from the simulator map.
How to enjoy it
Do not try to fly the whole route in one sitting. This plan works best as a small expedition: a few legs at a time, real weather or low sun, a short logbook, and proper pauses at the major stopovers.
© Michel Lagneau 2021