Click here to watch FILM of the historic flight in Diggers Rest by Harry Houdini.

JU DGING by the grainy sepia-tone photographs, there was but a handful of young men in long coats standing around a biplane at a paddock near Diggers Rest to watch a momentous event in Australian aviation history.

The handful swelled to thousands as people descended on Diggers Rest over three days to remember the day - March 18, 1910 - when escapoloigst and showman Harry Houdini took to the skies in his French-built Voisin biplane.

A crowd of about 300 turned out at Stan Payne Reserve last Thursday for the official commemoration of Houdini's flight. One of those present, Aviation Historical Society of Australia president Keith Meggs, let the crowd know that he was firmly in Houdini's corner on the question that won't go away: who was the first to fly in

Australia? "Claims by [Colin] Defries have a little bit of merit, but Houdini was first. He did a couple of circles flying out of the paddock and back again.

"The flight [by Defries] in Sydney was hops, even if they were under control."

There were other aviation buffs present who say Defries was first.

But no matter their personal preference, all were in agreement that Houdini's flight was an occasion worth celebrating.

Prominent aviator Harry Hawker witnessed Houdini's first flight, and his relatives, including half-sister Mary Bramley, were at Diggers Rest to commemorate the occasion.

Mrs Bramley, 82, said the story of Houdini's flight was well known in the family and it was after watching Houdini fly that Hawker caught the flying bug.

Eyes turned skyward for Saturday's airshow. For some, the highlights were the vintage Tiger Moths and Chris Sperou's aerobatic display in his Pitts Super Stinker biplane.