Frederick Victor Roffey[note 1] (4 October 1908 - 22 September 1993) was an Australian aviator, best known for being the first person to fly from New Caledonia to Australia.

[4] Roffey successfully completed the crossing at the age of 23 on 21 November 1931 in a de Havilland Gipsy Moth biplane called The Golden Eagle in which he flew from Ouaco to Rockhampton, via Marlborough, in just under 12 hours.

[4] As such, Roffey is credited with opening up the flight path to New Caledonia, which would later become a tourist destination serviced by major airlines.

[11][12][13][14][15] In 1923, the family purchased a pastoral property called "Melbadale" in the rural locality of Goowarra, near the township of Dingo, west of Rockhampton.

[17][18] The Rockhampton Aero Club held their first full-scale pageant on 23 August 1930 which was where Roffey's love of aviation was borne after paying to be taken up on a joy flight.

After considering his options, Roffey believed the only thing left to pioneer was to fly the 1100 miles from New Caledonia to Australia so decided to mount an attempt to be the first person to do so.

[22] Some experienced aviators expressed concerns and described the planned trip as "hazardous" particularly in such a small plane with a pilot that only had less than a year's flying experience.

[27] With the course set for Bustard Head, south of Gladstone, Roffey departed Oauco, 150 miles of Noumea, at 5am on 21 November 1931, where a large crowd had gathered to watch him take off.

Also on board were three bottles of French Clicquot champagne and a freshly picked bouquet of flowers which was handed to him by a local woman prior to taking off.

[28] After Cato Reef came into sight, Roffey's aircraft headed into a thunderstorm where strong winds buffeted the plane with heavy rain causing him to fly blind for a period of time.

[28] However, when Roffey attempted to pinpoint his location, he assumed he was flying south of Rockhampton so turned his aircraft north.

[35] Roffey was introduced by state MP for Keppel Owen Daniel who also read a message of congratulations from Sir John Goodwin, the Governor of Queensland.

[2] It was constructed by Joseph Henry Bauman and included an instrument panel, cockpit, wind gauge, exhaust pipe and a battery-powered propeller.

[39] Entering Australia without a pratique, and bringing three bottles of French champagne and hand-picked flowers into the country drew the ire of customs and quarantine officials.

[40][41] The Collector of Customs warned Roffey that if he wanted to keep the champagne, he was required to pay duty at a rate of 57 shillings per gallon.

[40] Quarantine officials also demanded a sample from the bouquet of flowers Roffey received so they could be examined and declared free of disease.

[40] They also warned Roffey that he had breached quarantine regulations by entering Australia without a pratique, which was unable to be overlooked due to it being an essential procedure.

[40] As a result, Roffey appeared in the Rockhampton Summons Court on 16 December 1931 where he pleaded guilty to a breach of quarantine regulations by failing to report to the department at the conclusion of his flight.