Description
In 2014 the Royal Australian Air Force will celebrate the centenary of the first flight of an Australian military aircraft, the Bristol Military Biplane, commonly known as a Bristol Boxkite.
Prior to the establishment of the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) in 1921, the Australian Flying Corps (AFC) was responsible for operating military aircraft throughout the country.
Lieutenant Eric Harrison made Australian military history when he took a Bristol Boxkite for a flight at an aviation school on 1 March 1914. This historic moment is recognised as the starting point of military flying in Australia.
The coin’s reverse depicts a representation of a Bristol aeroplane propeller with a military Boxkite flying under the propeller blade and an F/A-18 Hornet fighter aircraft soaring above it.