Canberra Times (ACT : 1926 - 1995), Monday 12 September 1988, page 5


The Chief of the Air Staff, Air Marshal Ray Funnell, at RAAF Base Fairbairn with the Pilatus PC9 aircraft he will fly in the Around Australia

Air Race.

RAAF chief in race

The RAAFs top officer, the Chief of the Air Staff, Air Marshal Ray Funnell, will be competing in the Around Australia Air Race which begins in Narromine at 7.30pm next Sunday. Air Marshal Funnell will be flying the RAAFs newest aircraft, the Pilatus PC9 high-performance trainer which is a Swiss design being assembled in Australia.

It is appropriate that the CAS should be taking part in this historical race because, according to Air Marshal Funnell, the first aerial circumnavigation of Australia was accomplished in 1924 by the officer then acting as the

CAS, Wing Commander S. J. Goblc.

In 1974, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Wing Commander Goblc's flight, Air Marshall Funnell was the pilot of an F-lll which retraced his route. Air Marshall Funnell began flying at the age of 16 with the Royal Queensland Aero Club in 1951 and he is a member of the Canberra Aero Club. Another entrant from Canberra is a six-seater Beechcraft Bonanza piloted by Ms Angela Ivanovici, of Hawker, accompanied by her 2'/2-year-old daughter Callin, navigator Mr Joe Power and assistant Ms Bronwyn Winter.