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Aviation Historical Society of Australia
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Author: DerekB

I'm a mechanical engineer by training, and I've spent most of my career in materials - engineering plastics first, then composites (fibreglass and carbon fibre materials). My aviation interests are centred on the CAC Wirraway, Boomerang and Ceres. I've published a book about the Ceres and I'm working on a manuscript for a Wirraway book.
DerekB18/11/202006/12/2021

AHSA Monthly Meeting 18 November 2020 (Martin James: Commemorating the RAAF Centenary)

Martin James (Royal Australian Air Force Histrian) gave a presentation describing how the RAAF is planning to commemorate its centenary during 2021, including an...
DerekB08/11/202014/04/2021

Membership subscriptions for 2021 reduced due to COVID-19 situation

At the 21st Annual General Meeting of the Incorporated Society on Wednesday 23rd September 2020, the Committee recommended reducing the annual subscriptions for the...
DerekB21/10/202006/12/2021

AHSA Monthly Meeting 21 October 2020 (Tony Wheeler: The Great Airline Bazaar / London to Melbourne In 22 Hops)

Tony Wheeler (co-founder of Lonely Planet guides) gave a presentation "The Great Airline Bazaar" covering his extraordinary 22-flight journey from London to Melbourne. The...
DerekB29/09/202027/12/2022

Australian-built Aircraft and the Industry (Vol 2) by Keith Meggs

The latest book released by author Keith Meggs Volume 2 of this encyclopaedic work (containing only one chapter, being chapter 15, spread across two...
DerekB16/09/202027/12/2022

AHSA Monthly Meeting 16 Sep 2020 (Derek Buckmaster: The Wirraway “Newspaper War”)

Derek Buckmaster gave a presentation on The Wirraway "Newspaper War". The AHSA September monthly meeting was held online via Zoom. A recording of the...
Cover image: Aviation Heritage Vol 51 No 3
DerekB01/09/202026/04/2021

Aviation Heritage Volume 51 Number 3 contents listing

The latest quarterly edition (September 2020) of the AHSA journal - Aviation Heritage - has recently been hosted to members. Full contents listing: Aviation...
DerekB19/08/202006/12/2021

AHSA Monthly Meeting 19 August 2020 (Phil Vabre: The Empire Air Mail Scheme In Operation 1938-39)

Phil Vabre gave a presentation on The Empire Air Mail Scheme In Operation 1938-39. The August 2020 monthly meeting of the AHSA was held...
DerekB15/07/202014/07/2022

AHSA Monthly Meeting 15 July 2020 (Roger McKay: Jet Fighter Evolution)

Squadron Leader Roger McKay gave a presentation on the evolution of jet fighter design, explaining the development from "first generation" to "fifth generation" designs....
DerekB30/06/202021/12/2021

Aviation Heritage Volume 51 Number 2 contents listing

The latest quarterly edition (June 2020) of the AHSA journal - Aviation Heritage - has been posted to members. Full contents listing: Aviation Heritage...
DerekB11/06/202006/12/2021

AHSA Monthly Meeting 11 June 2020 (Dr Ellen Stoddart: The Record-Setting Flights of the Perlan Glider)

Dr Ellen Stoddart gave a fascinating presentation covering the development and record-setting flights of the Perlan high-altitude glider. Ellen's son Morgan Sandercock is one...

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Welcome to the website of the Aviation Historical Society of Australia Inc.
The AHSA is dedicated to recording and promoting Australian aviation history. We find and tell the stories of how aviation (both civil and military) has contributed to the development of Australia and the experiences of Australian people.
To navigate around the site, select from the menu bar above, click on one of the updates below or choose one of the categories below.

On this day in Australian aviation history:

1943 Two CAC Wirraway aircraft operated by 5 Service Flying Training School at Uranquinty, NSW, collided in mid air on 8 August 1943. The collision occurred following a diving attack during a formation flying exercise. A20-584 pulled up under A20-215 and collided and then partially disintegrated. The aircraft crashed 1½ miles from each other. From A20-215 Pilot Sgt L.H. White 413809 (staff instructor pilot) parachuted and survived with shock and inury to right foot, but trainee LAC Raymond Thomas Cooper 428633 was killed. From A20-584 both Pilot instructor W/O Frank Kenneth Smith 407450, and trainee LAC John Christopher Chantler 422931 were killed. Source: NAA A9186, 476
1945 Supermarine Seafire Mk III PR228 operated by the Royal Naval Air Service Bankstown crashed at on a hill at Barnawartha, 15 miles northeast of Chiltern, Victoria on 8 August 1945. The aircraft was returning from Laverton to Bankstown after drop tank trials at Laverton. On the way back it crashed on a hill at Barnawartha, 15 miles northeast of Chiltern, presumably due to bad weather conditions. The fighter was destroyed and the pilot, FLTLT Geoffrey William Schaeffer RAAF was killed. Schaffer had been the senior test pilot at RNAS Bankstown since February. Sources: aviation-safety.net website; NAA: A705, 163, 160, 168
1964 Three new RAAF DHC-4 Caribou aircraft on their delivery flight to Australia arrived in Vietnam on 8 August 1964 after diverting from Butterworth, Malaysia. Six new DHC-4 Caribou aircraft had already been delivered, making the long flight from the de Havilland factory in Canada to Australia via South East Asia. In June 1964, the Australian Government announced it would commit additional forces to the growing Vietnam conflict including six of the new Caribou aircraft. So the third group of new Caribou aircraft (A4-171, A4-179, A4-185) on their delivery flight to Australia was diverted from its stopover point at Butterworth, Malaysia, to Vietnam, with the ferry crews handing over the aircraft to personnel of the newly created RAAF Transport Flight Vietnam (RTFV), a new unit created on 20 July at Butterworth. Initially arriving at Vung Tau, located on the coast 60km southeast of Saigon, an official ceremony for the RTFV was held on 10 August before the aircraft commenced operations on 14 August. A second batch of aircraft arrived from Australia by 29 August. Under the command of SQNLDR Chris Sugden, a former WW2 and Korea veteran, the RTFV initially comprised seven officers, seven senior non-commissioned officers and six airmen. By June 1966, the RFTV was expanded to become the re-formed No 35 Squadron and would remain in Vietnam serving with distinction until 1972. The Caribou proved ideal for operations in Vietnam, given the plethora of small unsealed airstrips across the country. Over eight years, Caribou aircraft would conduct 81,000 sorties, carrying 680,000 passengers and 46 million kilos of cargo earning the unit the nickname ‘Wallaby airlines’; a nickname that has remained with 35 SQN ever since. Source: Air Force Association SA Division

A Mouse At Moresby Ansett Airways Ansett Flying Boat Services Ballarat Bellanca 28/70 Bill Bedford Boeing Brinsmead Bronco CAC CAC Boomerang CAC Ceres CAC Mustang CAC Wackett Trainer CAC Wirraway CAC Woomera Chartair Cyclone Tracy DAP DC-3 DCA DH.50 DH60 Moth Double Sunrise Duigan Memorial Lecture Eric Bonar Essington Lewis Eyre Peninsula Airways GAF Guinea Airways Halestorm JC Fitzmaurice Junkers F13 Lawrence Wackett Macchi Meteor Michael Smith Outlook Percival Proctor Qantas RAF 205 Squadron RFD Winged Target Roy Goon Sid Marshall Target towing

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