Don Kendell

He recalled that as a seven-year-old he ran barefoot for nearly a mile through paddocks full of Saffron Thistle just to watch a biplane take off.

He attended Geelong College after a period at Osborne Bush School but returned to his parents' property near Lockhart, New South Wales, to help during a drought in 1946.

[1] There he obtained a commercial pilot's licence and started working for British European Airways flying Herons, DC3s and later turboprop Viscounts.

[1] In a business notorious for a very high failure rate, Kendell Airlines prospered and grew while many other companies came and went.

In 1992, Don Kendell was made a member of the Order of Australia (AM) in the Queen's Birthday Honours for his services to aviation.