The upper photograph shows the western side of the Todd River and the sand ridges of the Simpson Desert. This was taken from 3,800 feet. The lower photograph shows the flat topped hills of the desert north of the Finke River, from 1000 feet. Together these photographs reveal some of the diversity of the features of the central Australian landscape.

Madigan made a series of nine flights in Central Australia in 1929 with the loan of two Westland Wapiti aircraft and their crew from the Defence Department. During the flights two cameras made exposures every five minutes. The first flights were made over known territory to enable results of later flights to be assessed more accurately. Madigan's work revealed the uncompromising nature of the regions covered, where rivers petered out into the desert, however no new landforms were discovered. The aerial survey did however provide Madigan with the information he needed to undertake a scientific survey of the Simpson Desert from the ground in 1939.