The Man at Smithy’s Side
From the day he first stepped aboard Southern Cross to the day he disappeared somewhere near Hawaii, Charles Ulm was one of the most divisive characters in Australian aviation. Today he would be considered an entrepreneur; in the 1930s he was looked upon as being a ruthless businessman with little consideration for others.
Charles Ulm's name is forever interlocked with that of Kingsford Smith and the first flight across the Pacific in 1928, but , a new book from aviation writer Rick Searle reveals that–although Ulm indeed had a divisive personality–his contribution to the foundations of civil aviation was perhaps as significant as Smithy's.
