Sir Charles Edward Kingsford-Smith

Born 9^th February 1897 in Hamilton Brisbane Queensland Australia

Called "Smithy" in OZ - he is one of Australia's most famous early aviation pioneer pilots

Last flight was in the Lockheed Altair Lady-Southern-Cross Smithy was lost in unknown circumstances over the Bay of Bengal on November 8^th 1935 near Aye Island in the Andaman Sea just off the coast of Burma

From Recorded History
A South Australian pilot - Jimmy Melrose - had set off from Croydon aerodrome in England in a new Percival Gull and was on his way back to OZ when he saw the glow of the Altair's twin exhausts pass over him at very high speed when he was flying over the Bay of Bengal

At that time both aircraft were around 250 miles south of Rangoon

It was 0250hrs local on a dark but clear featureless night

A "pull-up" would have been required by Smithy after passing Melrose flying alone in the Gull - Smithy is recorded as flying much higher than Melrose who was cruising at around 3000'

The perfect environment for what we now know as "Spatial Disorientation"

It is the opinion of the AirCentre News Desk that Sir Charles Kingsford-Smith encountered 'Spatial Disorientation' as a result of a "pull-up" on a black featureless night while flying the Lockheed Altair 'Lady Southern Cross' over the Bay of Bengal in 1935 - the result would have been a high-speed impact into the water