Dick Smith, AO (born Richard Harold Smith on 18 March 1944(1944-03-18)) is an Australian entrepreneur, businessman and aviator. He is the founder of Dick Smith Electronics, Dick Smith Foods and Australian Geographic, and was selected as the 1986 Australian of the Year.
Smith learned to fly in 1972, graduating to a twin engine Beech Baron. In 1976 he competed in the Perth to Sydney air race. At the age of 34 he purchased his first helicopter, a Be...
more
Dick Smith, AO (born Richard Harold Smith on 18 March 1944(1944-03-18)) is an Australian entrepreneur, businessman and aviator. He is the founder of Dick Smith Electronics, Dick Smith Foods and Australian Geographic, and was selected as the 1986 Australian of the Year.
Smith learned to fly in 1972, graduating to a twin engine Beech Baron. In 1976 he competed in the Perth to Sydney air race. At the age of 34 he purchased his first helicopter, a Bell Jetranger. With it he made a record-setting flight from Sydney to Lord Howe Island and return, 1185 km. The helicopter opened new opportunities for exploring places otherwise inaccessible. In 1978 he found the wreck of the Kookaburra aircraft, which crash-landed in the Central Australian Desert in 1929.
Smith's admiration for the early aviation pioneers led him to successfully attempt the first solo helicopter flight around the world. His flight began in Fort Worth, Texas, on 5 August 1982, in a newly purchased Bell Jetranger 206B. On 19...
less
