Decades-long mission to restore Charles Kingsford Smith to rarefied air

Getting to the truth of what happened to legendary aviator Sir Charles Kingsford Smith began as a fascination for filmmaker, explorer and author Damien Lay.

But shortly after delving into one of Australian history's great mysteries, Lay became obsessed. Two decades later, the story has become deeply personal.

In November Lay finally published his historical fiction book, Of Air and Men, on the 90^th anniversary of Kingsford Smith's disappearance near Myanmar while attempting to break the England-Australia speed record in his plane, Lady Southern Cross.

The bodies of Kingsford Smith and his co-pilot, Tommy Pethybridge, were never found.

Kingsford Smith was a celebrated figure in the 1920s and '30s after he completed the first transpacific flight from California to Brisbane and became the first person to fly across the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand, but his legacy has naturally been dulled by time.

"That was a big part of the way I wrote the book as historical fiction so anybody male or female, of any age, can appreciate the history and the story in an entertaining way, rather than doing a non-fiction story," Lay says.

The book tells the story of Kingsford Smith's life and legacy and, most importantly, sets out to correct many mistruths about the aviation pioneer, which he says have "dismantled" his reputation in the nine decades since his death.

Lay worked closely with the families of Kingsworth Smith and Pethybridge while researching and writing the book and developed a close bond with the 93-year-old Charles Arthur Kingsford Smith Jnr, who was just three when his father perished.

"What happened to Charles Kingsford Smith and the mystery surrounding his appearance was the initial attraction, but as the story went on, it became much more of a personal endeavour to provide closure to both the Pethybridge family and the Kingsford Smith family," Lay says.

The enduring impact of Kingsford Smith's legacy on his son is a major theme explored by Lay in the book. Lay says Charles Jnr grew up with a lot of resentment towards his father.

"For Charles, he grew up only knowing about his father in the history books, and the history books were wrong," Lay says.

"Over time Kingsford Smith's character was slowly dismantled, so when you're reading things like that about your hero, your father, it does have an effect on you.

"A big part of working with Charles over the last 20 years was rewriting all of that history and correcting the mistruths or unfounded theories, which there were many."

Lay says some of the most hurtful mistruths for the family were accusations of alcoholism, cowardice, aquaphobia, and worst of all, womanising.

"In the history books there is zero evidence of any kind of behaviour other than cheap innuendo," he says.

"I guess some authors in the past, because they didn't have the final chapter, had to sensationalise their history in other ways to garner some attention to the work they were doing."

That final chapter was indeed the hardest to write. Lay made 18 expeditions to Myanmar between 2009 and 2018, where he undertook deep ocean dives in blackwater to uncover what he says were the remains of the Lady Southern Cross.

Many of these expeditions were completed under Myanmar military protection due to pirates regularly patrolling the waters.

"I'm 100 per cent certain we've located the Lady Southern Cross wreckage and remains; that's based on all of the data, fieldwork and research materials we've located from the location," Lay says.

"Everything indicates 100 per cent to this being the Lady Southern Cross and wreckage of Charles Kingsford Smith and Tommy Pethybridge. There's not a single doubt in my mind."

The Sydney-based Lay, who is best known for his 2006 TV movie The Battle of Long Tan and the 2016 film Game Of Aces, wrote part of the book, Of Air and Men, while in Newcastle visiting his mother.

During writing sessions at Newcastle's Family Hotel, he struck up a friendship with former publican Dylan Oakes, who owns the nearby small bar The Mad Poet.

Lay will launch Of Air and Men next Thursday at The Mad Poet, with Hunter journalist and author Nick Milligan hosting a Q&A. The Nelson Bay-based great-nephew of Kingsford Smith, Leofric Kingsford Smith, will also read an excerpt of the book.