TAA Advertisements

Some of TAAs award winning advertisements.

Award winning poster

This airline poster advertising 'Fly TAA-the friendly way' was originally a colour lithograph on paper produced by advertising agency Noel Paton Pty Ltd, for Trans Australia Airlines, in 1952-1953.

[The illustration / artwork was by Ralph Warner, design / layout by Richard (Jimmy) Haughton James]

This bold, early 1950s Trans Australia Airlines (TAA) airline poster features Nola Rose, a Bondi Beach beauty contest winner, who appears as an air hostess floating in the sky. Her eyes gaze confidently out at the viewer as three Viscount 700 series aircraft fly behind her.

In April 1953, this poster (along with 5 other Australian travel posters) won an International Poster Competition at the Witwatersrand Agricultural Society's Easter show in Johannesburg, South Aftrica where they were up against posters from the United Kingdom, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Portugal, South Africa, Israel and Holland.

Also called the Rand Easter Show, it is an annual show held in Johannesburg, South Africa, and is the largest consumer exhibition in the world, outside of the United States.

Other Posters

Classic Australian TAA Poster

In a 2014 exhibition of advertisements and advertising ephemera taken from the Rare Books Collection at Monash University Melbourne, the above 'FLY TAA-the Friendly Way' poster, rated number 2 in the Classic Australian Advertisements section.

These posters are considered valuable cultural assets, and it is their importance as a social documentary, which goes beyond nostalgia of a past long gone.

In the 1950s copywriters began using ever-repeatable catch phrases that they hoped would enter the everyday lexicon of their audience.

'TAA the Friendly Way' would remain one of the airline's most memorable taglines until it was absorbed by Qantas in the 1990s.

Out Door Advertisements

Winning bus add

Sydney Double Decker Bus

In 1955 TAA won First Prize in the Transportation section of the annual competition for out-door advertising held in Sydney. The winning advertisement was placed on 16 double decker buses used in the Sydney area.

The competition was one which drew entries form all parts of Australia.

The theme used was then adapted for use on buses and trams, in other cities.

Adelaide Bus

Adelaide Bus

Melbourne Tram

Melbourne Tram

Amazing Film advertisement

In early 1979 a proposal was put to TAA to film a TV commercial using a camera mounted on the tail of a Boeing 727 - 76 jet. The jet was VH-TJB.

Tail View of Sydney Harbour

Boeing 727-76 over Sydney Harbour

Still Photos taken from the film were used in poster advertisements as well. So good were the photos when they were first shown they were originally thought to have been created using a model aircraft. The film won acclaim from television production personnel at several channels around the country.

The Idea

The idea to mount a camera on the tail of a Boeing aircraft came from Mr.Peter Lyell, senior copywriter with McCann Erickson, the advertising agency used by TAA.

After approval from TAA's Advertising Manager, Mr Peter Taylor, the first priority was to determine if a camera and housing mounted on the tail would impair the performance of the aircraft.

After 5000 man hours and 6 months feasibility study involving aerodynamics, physics, film production, TAA technical and engineering staff, the project was given the green light after computer analysis by the Boeing company confirmed the already positive findings by TAA and its consultants.

To create the film they first had to mount a 35mm camera on the tail of the Boeing 727-76.

Trevor Close and Ron Mathews with the fairing designer atop the tail of TJB.

The camera housing was constructed from fibreglass and aluminium, three metres long, one metre tall and weighed about 100 Kg.

Having determined that the plane can fly with the mounted camera, the next issue was, will the camera operate at up to minus 51C with its housing being buffeted by airflow as the aircraft sped along at 900 kilometers an hour? And, what effect would such freezing temperatures have on movie film designed for much warmer temperatures?.

The Aeroflex BL Camera with a 9.8mm wide-angle lens was "winterised" with special low temperature oils and greases, and the housing insulated with high and low temperature foam sheets. Additionally three nickel cadmium batteries to power the camera were designed and built to withstand low temperatures.

The problem of how to activate and control the camera in flight was solved by TAA engineering and technical staff and film production experts. A heavily modified remote control device for model aircraft was used and a cable run from the camera into the cabin of the aircraft.

Tail view of Gold Coast Qld

Boeing 727-76 over Surfers Paradise Gold Coast Qld

Within the mounting the camera was mounted on tracks so it could move back and forth, with up or down tilt, and full aperture control.

Test flights between Melbourne Airport, Tullamarine, and Apollo Bay in western Victoria, a week before the filming flight determined the optimum altitude for the best perspective for the camera was 2,500 feet. The camera was able to film the aircraft, - the fuselage and wings - travelling over the countryside thousands of feet below.

TAA devoted the aircraft, carrying no passengers, for a day to film on a route between Melbourne and Townsville. Among the destinations seen in the commercials are Melbourne, Sydney, the Gold Coast, and north Queensland islands.

This project by TAA is believed to be the first time that a movie camera was been mounted on the tail of a Boeing aircraft for filming commercials.