The News Hub

Published 11 March 2026.

Our next Windback Wednesday series explores the history behind some of the City of Burnside’s street names from A to Z, drawing on research from the Burnside Historical Society’s Burnside Street Names and Their Origins.

This week we look at Aviator Lane in Rose Park, which is named after pioneer aviator William F. E. Smith. Smith lived in Watson Avenue and kept his Avro bi‑plane Skylark in a hangar on his property. Although his flying career was brief, he was well known for his stunts in the 1920s. A career highlight is one particularly memorable moment when he opened a football carnival at Adelaide Oval by dropping the first ball from his aeroplane!

Photographs: W.F.E Smith, 1924 and G-AUCY Plane. Courtesy of the SA Aviation Museum.