The Southern Cloud was an Avro 10 from England, and part of the ANA fleet established by Charles Kingsford Smith and Charles Ulm, after the success of their record breaking flight across the Pacific Ocean in the Southern Cross.

In March 1931, the Southern Cloud left Sydney for Melbourne, but never arrived. Two ladies from the Tintaldra Store and local Hotel were aghast at what they had witnessed on that wild stormy day. The weather was bleak, the winds harsh, and the rain belted down from the sky. The two women sited the Southern Cloud go down and ran to the Post Master to share their fears however, were told they were dreaming and politely offered a cup of tea to soothe their nerves.

Betty Walton, Post Mistress at the historic Tintaldra Store has written a commemorative booklet sharing the tale of the Southern Cloud. The great story will be told through poetry and on Saturday the 22nd of November when Betty will share verse with more than 50 pilots who will descend on the Corryong Airport as part of the inaugural Corryong Fly In. This aviation spectacular will commemorate the Southern Cloud historic event; an event that changed aviation history forever.

Open to the public, the Corryong Airport will host in excess of 60 planes, pilots and their families for a day of Aviation fun and frivolity. The day’s activities will include a Southern Cloud tour and exhibition of the Southern Cloud disaster at Tumbarumba Visitors Centre, a welcoming luncheon, tour of the picturesque Upper Murray and Tintaldra Store on the banks of the Murray River.

“I look forward to sharing the tale of the two women who sighted the disaster, my poetry and the legend of the Southern Cloud. I intend to cook up a real storm of great old fashioned afternoon tea” said Betty Walton of the Tintaldra Store.

The wreckage lay undiscovered until 1958 when Tom Sontor, a Snowy Hydro employee, stumbled across it at the base foot of Mt. Black Jack in the Toolong Ranges of the Snowy Mountains. For more information visit www.corryongairport.com.au