and was considered a revolution in airplane technology, able to hold 4 passengers in an enclosed cabin. The Avro had also won a £A10,000 competition sponsored by the Daily Mail for the "best commercial aircraft". Due to their financial circumstances however, the order for one of the Avro 504K was cancelled. After being informed that the Dyak engine was ready by the owner of the Aerodrome, Nigel Love, on 23 November 1920; they were told that the Avro 504K would be ready by December. However the aircraft was delayed until 25 January 1923, upon which McGinness send a wire message to McMaster stating that all tests have been complete with satisfactory results. Fysh, who was also in Mascot, was left redundant due to the cancellation of the second Avro 504K, until Charles Knight, a Longreach stock and station agent, requested him to fly a RAF B.E.2e back to Longreach. Despite only having thirty minutes of practice on the BE2e during his pilot licence training, Fysh agreed to fly it, with Baird as his passenger. Fysh later stated that "when I took the aeroplane over, the problem of my own temporary redundancy was solved". On 31 January 1921, 6 days after McGinness sent the message to McMaster, McGinness, Fysh and Baird took off from Mascot aiming to reach Moree before dark. Due to the strong winds and turbulence, the BE2e began to spin, disorientating Fysh in the process. Landing his aircraft on an upside slope of a hill, they came to rest near a miner's cottage. Fysh and Baird soon found out that they were near Red Head mine (formally named "Lambton B Pit"), close to Singleton. Joining McGinness, who had safely arrived in Singleton, they flew northwards; stopping at Moree, St. George, Charleville, Blackall, and then at Barcaldine, the last stop before reaching Longreach. Meeting at Barcaldine with McMaster, who had caught the train from Rockhampton to the town, McMaster decided to fly with them to Longreach, hoping their arrival in the town would be "impressive and historical". Reaching Longreach in the scheduled time, the flight beat the mail train from Barcaldine by 20 minutes despite the train leaving Barcaldine 2-hour earlier. Mapping the airline's short-term future in the Shakespeare Hotel in Longreach, they soon planned the last leg of the journey to Winton. With Ainslie Templeton accompanying McMaster and McGinness in the Avro, Fysh flew with the owner of