It seems that the fertile land around Bunyip attracts airplanes, other wise how can you explain the fact that two separate air force planes had to force land in the nearby paddocks.
On the 27th of April 1934 the following article was published in The Argus.
“PLANE DAMAGED IN FORCED LANDING
Air Force Men Escape
BUNYIP, Thursday- One wing and the undercarriage were damaged and the propeller was smashed when a Moth aeroplane made a forced landing in a paddock about half a mile from the Iona post office at 11:30 a.m. yesterday. The pilot (Squadron-Leader Daley) and the observer (Flight-Lieutenant Swift) escaped injury. The aeroplane was being flown from Point Cooke to Seaspray where a seaplane was damaged a fortnight ago,when the pilot lost his bearings in the clouds and decided to land in the paddock. Two aeroplanes from Point Cooke later took the pilot and his companion back to Point Cooke but the damaged machine will not be carried in for repairs until to-day.”
The second article was published in The Argus on the 30th of October 1935.
“BUNYIP, Tuesday- pilot Heath, flying a R.A.A. F. Wapiti machine from New South Wales was lost in a fog over Mount Macedon to-day and forced to fly blind for several hours, after which he landed in a paddock at Bunyip to refuel. He had only enough fuel in his tanks for another half-hour’s flying. He will spend the night at Bunyip, and will leave for Point Cooke at 8 a.m. to-morrow.”
