But many people would be surprised to learn that the first official airmail flight was in South Australia, pioneered by Henry John 'Harry' Butler.

Born in 1889, Harry grew up being groomed for the family farm at Koolywurtie, via Minlaton. But he had other ideas.

Fascinated with the famous flying Wright brothers, Harry was obsessed with all things aeronautical.

He read books on the subject, pieced together model planes and even conducted experiments on his mother's hens to learn about flight.

He also loved tinkering on-farm with cars and motorbikes and spent many weekends at nearby Smithfield, where friend and engineer Carl Wittber was building one of Australia's first aeroplanes.

Carl was heavily involved in helping fellow South Australian, Fred Custance, take the first flight in 1910.

The experience led to Harry applying and gaining entry into the Air Force at Point Cook.

Too impatient to study, at 26 Harry flew to the United Kingdom to enlist in the English Royal Flying Corps.

While officially 'uneducated', Harry's knowledge of planes gained him a promotion to 2nd Lieutenant Butler and he was flying in France by July, 1916.

It was not long after that he began flying mail letters from Glasgow to Turnberry for the RAF.

At the end of the war in 1918, Harry had two Air Force Crosses for bravery. He was also a skilled flying instructor.

He loved his Bristol M1C monoplane so much that he bought it and another plane (an Avro 504) and had them shipped to Australia.

Once back on Australian soil in 1919, Harry founded an aviation company at Enfield with friend Lieutenant HA Kauper.

Painted red, the Bristol - nicknamed the Red Devil - was Harry's trademark and, within months, he was giving displays of flying and stunting, the likes of which had never been seen in SA or possibly Australia.

Some aerial displays attracted more than 20,000 people to watch the Red Devil perform tricks.

A country boy at heart, Harry's dream was to fly across the Gulf St Vincent to show his hometown an aerial display of epic proportions – and to deliver the mail.

"I'm dying for the day when I can fly my monoplane over to Minlaton," he wrote in a letter to his mother.

"Won't I give you a display, one that no aviator in the world can beat!"

The dream was realised on August 6, 1919.

* Full Our People report in Stock Journal, November 26 issue.