Of all forms of transport, air transport was best suited for inland operations and was the main factor in overcoming this tyranny of distance, enabling the population of the outback to have some physical links with the seaboard cities. As will be seen in the text, Australians took to this new form of transport with their usual energy and inventiveness and, in the process, created the second oldest airline in the world. The need to ensure medical care for remote stations and homesteads resulted in a unique and typically Australian innovation -The Flying Doctor Service. Australia is one of the most airminded nations on earth and the yearly level of airline passengers closely approximates the total population. At the same time, the technical level of operations and maintenance has been such that Australian air transport has been consistently the safest in the world.

Before passenger aircraft took to the air, however, there were many Australian individuals and organisations who invented, and developed locally, various forms of flying machines.

Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering