Critical Care

NSW Air Ambulance’s half a century of caring

Hanging from the roof of Sydney’s Powerhouse Museum are an array of aircraft that are significant to Australia’s aviation heritage. The Bleriot monoplane that conducted the country’s very first air mail flight and P.G. Taylor’s Catalina ‘Frigate Bird II’ that conquered the South Pacific between Australia and South America. Lesser known and lacking the same dramatic lines is a Beechcraft B80 Queen Air, registration VH-AMB. Its markings of red and white leave little doubt of its heritage as an aerial ambulance, although the fact that it flew 24,500 hours over a distance of close to 3,855,000 nautical miles is far less obvious. This discreetly positioned Queen Air was a pioneer of the NSW Air Ambulance, a service that now marks its 50th year.

A Proud Heritage.

Australia is known as a pioneer of aeromedical operations. The Royal Flying Doctor’s history extends back to 1928 when the Reverend John Flynn OBE first began providing medical care for remote, rural communities. It is a service whose reputation has now reached far beyond Australia’s shores.
At a similar time, Stanley Drummond was serving the health needs of children in the NSW outback using his Vauxhall Tourer motor vehicle. That was until he met a teenage aviatrix by the name of Nancy Bird and together they took their service to the skies in a deHavilland Leopard Moth.