AustLit

Fred Hoinville was a well-known glider pilot, who set a number of records in Australia before his untimely death in a glider crash in 1959. As an adult, his sport was surfboard riding (to which he introduced the hollow board), until, at thirty-five, he learnt to fly. He became a glider pilot of international reputation, an aerobatic expert, and stunt flier. Finally, in 1952, he became Australia's first commercial skywriter, known to hundreds of thousands of Australians through his Sky Ads.

Hoinville was also the founder of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots' Association, and was involved in the founding of the Gliding Federation of Australia. The annual 'Hoinville Award' for 'Outstanding Service to Gliding - Operations' is named after him.