CARL WILHELM WITTBER

Shortly after Louis Bleriot’s heroic first flight from just south west of Calais across the English Channel to a paddock near Dover Castle on 25th July 1909, Mr. Frederick H. Jones, an Adelaide manufacturers import/export agent who was in Europe at the time, bought the 37th ‘Bleriot type X1’ monoplane and on 3rd February 1910 it arrived in Adelaide. Mr. Jones had already returned to Adelaide and arranged with John Martins department store to house his aircraft at their Kent Town stables until more permanent accommodation could be found. Meanwhile Mr. Jones had enlisted the services of Carl Wilhelm (Bill) Wittber to supervise the assembly and rigging of the aircraft when it arrived.

Carl Wilhelm Wittber was born on 7th December 1879 at Salisbury where his father Carl August Wittber was the second headmaster of the Salisbury school. In 1886 Carl August was appointed to the school at Burra, and in 1893 was transferred to a school nearing completion at Rose Park.

Bill Wittber left school at 14, went to the School of Mines in North Terrace and was later apprenticed to Ellis & Clark, electrical engineers. After completing his apprenticeship, Bill joined the crew of SS Narrung, a trading steamer, as an electrical engineer. During this period he spent many hours with his fellow engineers on board discussing the development of heavier than air machines.

Bill left the sea at the end of 1902 but kept up his interest and growing enthusiasm in aviation. About a week after the aircraft arrived in 1910, it was on display in the ‘Magic Cave’ area at John Martins and thousands went to the store to see this flying machine they had heard about.

In early March 1910, a paddock was found at Bolivar that was suitable for a test flight, and Bill Wittber and Frederick Custance, who had offered to help with the project for no fee, assembled the aircraft for the third time. It should be remembered that neither of these men had actually seen an aircraft before this one. On March 13th, after having waited a couple of days for the wind to subside, Mr. Jones suggested that as Bill was the engineer in charge, he should have first go at taxiing practice, which he did. Fred Custance then had a go and Bill Wittber had a second run.

During this run, with a little more confidence and speed “the plane gradually rose approximately 5 feet off the ground and travelled about 40 yards (36 metres), then brought the plane down gradually on to its wheels.” Therefore – It was a flight; It was under power. The power sustained the flight for over 40 yards and a successful landing indicates control. It was, by definition, a powered, sustained and controlled flight. Pre-dating a reported first flight by four days.

(Those first Australian flights- D. Lataan, & R. Laught D & S Publications 1993) This book is in the Trust’s Library.

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