Len Taplin war hero and the world's first budget traveler
Airline Ratings Len Taplin, holds on to wing struts on the Bristol Tourer. Picture taken by Sir Charles Kingsford Smith in 1923 and colorized by Benoit Vienne Len Taplin was a war ace with 14 victories, a Distinguished Flying Cross winner, one of Australia’s first airline pilots, and just maybe the world’s first low-cost or budget passenger. In 1921 Leonard Taplin signed up as a pilot with Sir Norman Brearley’s Western Australian Airways to operate Australia’s first airline service from Geraldton to Derby via most north-west towns. However, the arrival of a last-minute pas...
Source: airlineratings.com