Last changed 26 July 2021

1967–71 National Mapping Aerodist program

The National Mapping Aerodist program spanned Australia. The Karlantijpa region was covered in the years 1967–71, in blocks 13 and 17.

The northernmost part of the Karlantijpa region was included in the southern part of Block 13, with two relevant aerodist stations NM/G/201 and NM/G/202 established in 1967.

Aerodist field party leaders during 1967 were Syd Kirkby and Con Veenstra. … On 26 August 1967, the centre party moved from Daly Waters to Elliot. After operating from Elliot for about two weeks the centre party returned to Daly Waters on 8 September 1967.
https://www.xnatmap.org/adnm/ops/prog/aaerod/adist6374/TheAerodistYears_Website.html#ch09toc_1

NM/G/201 Station Summary: 'Station situated adjacent to Dept. of Interior bench mark No. DD 11. Aircraft Access: Wheel tracks of traverse DD, the swamp 4 miles to the North East and heavy scrub belts bearing 280° – 100° to west and S.W. of station clearly visible.
NM/G/202 Station Summary: 'NM/G/202 is situated on a low sandy ridge on the northern edge of a clay flat. Access was by helicopter.' and the accompanying sketch shows NM/G/202 0.2mi north of the 'D/I wheel tracks' crossing a 'swamp' which begins >2.5mi east of bench mark DJ 19.
(The DD and DJ series of benchmarks were established in 1964.)

The remainder of the Karlantijpa region was in Block 17, where aerodist stations were co-ordinated 1968 to 1971; identifiers are in the range NM/G/209 to NM/G/310.

1968 NatMap Aerodist preparation: dumps of helicopter fuel made by Murray Porteous and Bernard Morell, from Warrego along the 1964 DE level traverse to the Tanami – Hooker Creek road, in Bedford ZSU 262

While the centre party was operating from Hooker Creek in 1968, Nat Mapper Murray Porteous drove across country from near Tennant Creek to Hooker Creek. This journey was to establish several dumps of helicopter fuel (in 44-gallon drums) in the featureless scrub of the Tanami Desert. Murray was driving Bedford ZSU 262 with a new field assistant, a French national Bernard Morell. They travelled along the DE level traverse established in 1964 by the Department of Interior. The traverse ran from the Warrego mine generally westward for about 250 km until it terminated at the Tanami to Hooker Creek track to the south of Wilson Creek, roughly 140 km south of Hooker Creek. The route along the traverse was marked only by the faint wheel tracks of the 1964 survey vehicles and a concrete bench mark about every 8 km. http://www.xnatmap.org/adnm/ops/prog/aaerod/adist6374/TheAerodistYears_Website.html

In 1968 National Mapping completed Aerodist Block Adjustment ADS BA13, and carried out ADS BA17 (McMaster 1980:23, in Annex D).

Regional overview of survey stations, showing how the Helen Springs – Ord River connection between Aerodist Blocks 13 and 17 ties in with other surveys

Extract from 'Aerodist block areas', McMaster (1980:22) and Menzies & Wise (2011:10, Figure 7), courtesy Paul Wise, http://xnatmap.org

This involved a visit by helicopter to each of the remote locations indicated by the dots.

1970 1–12 August: NatMap Aerodist helicopter support, access by trucks to fly camp 160 kilometres west of the Warrego mine along the 1964 DE level traverse. Information on this is in Laurie McLean's tribute to Norm Hawker, including the location of the support camp indicated by the blue pentagon on the map.

Block 17

Measuring in Block 17 had commenced in 1968 and was substantially completed during 1970 but a few further lines were measured in 1971. Eventually a total of 22 stations were coordinated in Block 17.
For measurements in Block 17, the centre party was based at Alice Springs, Tennant Creek, and Willowra homestead. The Willowra pastoral lease covered an area of about 5,400 square kilometres along the Lander River bordering on the Tanami Desert about 330 kilometres north-west of Alice Springs. It was also home to a number of Warlpiri Aboriginal people who have since been granted freehold title to their land. Willowra is now known as the Wirliyajarrayi community. (McLean 2015)

Helicopter Support in 1970

Helicopter support was provided for measuring operations in Blocks 17, 22 and 31 during 1970. For this purpose a Hughes 500 369HS helicopter (VH-BLO) was chartered from Jayrow Helicopters Pty Ltd based at Melbourne’s Moorabbin airport. Later in the field season another Jayrow Hughes 500 helicopter (VH-BLN) replaced VH-BLO. Helicopter pilots were Vic Barkell, Peter Clemence (Jayrow chief pilot), Cliff Dohle and Lloyd Knight. The helicopter engineers included Peter Smart (Jayrow chief engineer), Dave King, Terry Gadsen and Jim Marsh. Helicopter VH-BLO is shown on task in the Simpson Desert during 1970 in Image 24 below.
Norm Hawker ran the 1970 field season helicopter support camps. Helicopter supported operations were conducted into the Simpson Desert in Block 22 from bases at Birdsville, a fly camp west of Glengyle homestead, Bedourie, Boulia, survey control station NM/B/293 about 100 kilometres west of Boulia, Tobermory homestead, survey control station NM/G/265 about 45 kilometres south-east of Tarlton Downs homestead, survey control station NM/G/270 about 15 kilometres south-west of new Jervois homestead, and at Andado homestead.
The Aerodist measuring work was then conducted over central and southern parts of the Northern Territory in Blocks 17 and 31 from helicopter bases at Alice Springs, Aileron, a fly camp at The Granites, Tennant Creek, a fly camp on the DE level traverse west of Tennant Creek, Willowra homestead, Yuendumu, Ayers Rock and Docker River. (McLean 2015)

References

Paragraphs 358–360 of Report No.2 and paragraphs 138–140 of Report No.14 of the Aboriginal Land Commissioner Reports about 'aerodists' on what became Aboriginal Freehold land; see also paragraphs 147–148 of Report No.18 (Cox River).

National Mapping Council of Australia. Station Summaries. NM/G/201 and NM/G/202. Photocopies provided by Auslig, early 1990s.

With thanks to Laurie McLean, author of tribute to Norm Hawker, and of the monograph The Aerodist years: Recollections of the Division of National Mapping's Airborne Distance Measuring Program 1963-1974' https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/209022017 (slightly revised web version
http://xnatmap.org/adnm/ops/prog/aaerod/adist6374/intro/main.htm#ta2
on http://www.xnatmap.org 'A site for preserving NATMAP's (The Division of National Mapping) history and maintaining contact with the people who were part of that history.')

Aerodist stations, plotted from coordinates in McLean's monograph:

To Karlantijpa page

URL http://www.anu.edu.au/linguistics/nash/kt/1968-71-Natmap.html