Albert Fortescue developed an autogyro in Sydney in 1909-12. Test hops were made from Bonnie Doon golf course near his Arncliffe factory. Fortescue patented his design in several countries. In 1924 he put his rotor on a surplus Avro 504 fuselage to make the aircraft seen at the bridge opening. In Spain, Juan de la Cierva had developed an almost identical aircraft. Fortescue alleged patent breach but his patents had expired a few weeks before Cierva lodged his. Cierva has since been credited as the inventor of the autogyro. Photo from: State Library of New South Wales

On the night of 19 March 1932, the day of the opening of the famous Sydney Harbour bridge, the Southern Cross took a load of passengers to view the illuminations on the bridge. Returning to Mascot - as it then was - the Southern Cross made a heavy landing and was badly damaged. The aircraft underwent extensive repairs before returning to the air.