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Fred Ward stretched his lean body over the engine on his workbench. He was enjoying every minute of his time so far at Richmond, even at the expense of missing the holidays with his family. This flight would be a new world record and, as much as he would have enjoyed some time to rest, he couldn’t allow himself to just sit back and be a mere spectator. He was arguably the best mechanic in Australia. It had come as no real surprise to him to find the three aviators wanting his assistance. His years of working at West Australian Airways had fine-tuned his techniques and honed his ability to uncover any minor but possibly consequential faults. He congratulated himself for making the decision to work for the Royal Australian Air Force. It was proving to be very worthwhile. He’d already tak
