Bert Hinkler

Who was Bert Hinkler?

Herbert John Louis Hinkler AFC DSM, better known as Bert Hinkler, was a pioneer Australian aviator and inventor. He designed and built early aircraft before being the first person to fly solo from England to Australia, and the first person to fly solo across the Southern Atlantic Ocean. He married in 1932 at the age of 39, and died less than a year later after crashing into remote countryside near Florence, Italy during a solo flight on another record setting voyage.