First Flight celebrated in Albury

On 27 July 2013, Albury LibraryMuseum hung a replica of a vintage monoplane built by Robbins and Porter on the spot where the two young motor mechanics built the original in their Kiewa Street garage in 1912-13. It was 100 years to the day that the pioneering men successfully flew their invention.

The Albury and District Historical Society, with the support of the Albury Manual Activity, constructed the life-size replica of the monoplane and hung it from the ceiling of the LibraryMuseum.

Robbins and Porter

Azor Robbins and Alexander Porter learned their trade as motor mechanics at Dalgety’s Garage in Bourke Street, Melbourne. But they were not only mechanics, but inventors. In their spare time, they worked on the design and construction of a monoplane. By March 1913 the construction of the plane had been completed and the engine mounted in the fuselage.

The duo eagerly planned open-air trials; however, it was not until Sunday, 27 July 1913, in front of six witnesses, that the plane took to the air and flew for 700 yards at a height of 15–20 feet above the ground. A report of the trials was printed in the Border Morning Mail of 29 July 1913.

In their Australian built monoplane Messers Robbins and Porter, of Albury, made five successful flights on Bungowannah Park on Sunday (27 July). Although the monoplane was under complete control while in the air it could not be flown to any great height owing to the restricted area of the paddock. 

While other planes would surpass the one built by our industrious amateur aviators, today Robbins and Porter are credited with designing and building Australia’s first monoplane fitted with a flat-four aero engine – and the only one that has ever flown.

The permanently “flying” monoplane is now part of the First Flight exhibition running at the LibraryMuseum until 27 July 2014.

Find out more: www.alburycity.nsw.gov.au