Cobham Aviation Services kindly donated BAe146 forward section, comprising cockpit and three rows of seat, to SAAM and transported it to the Museum on 16 May 2018. Here is some video of the aircraft section arriving at the Museum.
WP_20180516_11_24_48_Pro from South Australian Aviation Museum on Vimeo.
The aircraft, in service as VH-NJL, was destined for scrap.
SAAM intends to refurbish it as an interactive display that visitors can sit in.
Our May newsletter is now ready to download – just click on the front-page image at left.
There’s lots of good reading as usual – the president’s update on the month’s big news issues; stories on the Cierva C.30A Autogyro, the re-formation of 24Sqn at Mallala and Rod Kopp’s experiences in a RACSA Chipmunk; restoration updates; and Jim Rogers’ and Steve Nelson’s profile of the DHC-4 Caribou. Read on!!
SAAM today (3 May 2018 ) executed a Deed of Gift with RAAF Heritage for Mirage IIID A3-115 on an “as is/where is” basis. We are very grateful to RAAF Heritage for their confidence in us.
The aircraft is presently on display at RAAF Edinburgh as pictured.
We plan to concentrate on the reassembly of Orion A9-756 before picking it up, so it will be some time before A3-115 is on display at SAAM, where it will represent the work of ARDU at Edinburgh.
We will keep you posted.
SAAM has agreed to an F-111 swap so that our existing loaned aircraft A8-134 will go to the Australian War Memorial and be replaced by A8-132, presently at RAAF Base Edinburgh.
We regard this as a win-win. The AWM gets an RF-111C aircraft that was active in the East Timor theatre, and we get an F-111C with long and distinguished South Australian provenance of weapons trials with ARDU at Edinburgh. We are also delighted to further strengthen our existing cordial and cooperative relationships with the AWM and RAAF Heritage.
We are not sure yet exactly when the exchange will take place – but it’s soon and for a short time there will be two F-111s on site while the exchange takes place. Not to be missed!! We will keep you posted.
You can download our April newsletter by clicking on the front-page image at left. This is a big issue – 21 pages – so sit back and enjoy!
Member and noted WWI historian Chas Schaedel has produced another profile in his series on South Australian airmen siblings who served in the Great War – this time the Horn brothers Kelham, Marmaduke and Spencer. You can download it by clicking on the image of Kelham Horn at left.
We have added Jim Roger’s profile of the DHC-4 Caribou – with a focus on SAAM’s aircraft on display, A4-225.
Member Steve Nelson flew the aircraft in PNG during his RAAF service and has contributed an interesting section on the terrain and weather hazards of flying there.
Mike Milln of the Museum’s History Group has produced a profile of SQNLDR David Leicester DFC & Bar OAM. This extraordinary man, still alive and well with his wife in Adelaide, completed a tour of 30 Ops over Germany and France with 158 and 640 Sqns RAF, then volunteered for a 31st when squadrons were called on to make ‘maximum effort’ to field aircraft for the infamous Nuremberg raid in March 1944.
During that time he was promoted from Flight Sergeant to Squadron Leader to become the youngest squadron leader and Flight Commander of all the allied air forces.
He didn’t stop there, as he could have done. He volunteered for the 8 Group Pathfinder Force and completed an incredible further 37 missions with 35 Sqn. This really is an amazing story. You can download his story by clicking on the image at left.
SAAM History Group 
member Mike Milln has just published Book 2 of his Royal Aero Club of South Australia history. (Book 1, covering the 1926-1941 period, was published in 2011.)
Book 2 covers the 40 postwar years until the Club’s failure. This is a warts-and-all story that is sad in some parts and funny in others. But it’s much more than just an aero club history – it also describes the context within which the club operated – the national aero clubs movement and the changing postwar aviation policy and regulatory environments that spelled its downfall. It is a must read for anybody connected with the club and/or interested in the part the aero club movement played in Australia’s aviation development.
You can buy the book at SAAM, at Dymocks and Adelaide Booksellers in Adelaide’s Rundle Mall, and/or on-line at:
www.mikemillnbooks.com
www.avonmorebooks.com.au
Price $45
B5 softcover
465 pages
192 images – 33 in colour
Full index, bibliography & 9 appendices.
You can download the March newsletter by clicking on the front page image at left. This month Chas Schaedel has profiled WWI aviators the McCloughry/McClaughry brothers, Langdon Badger tells of his exploits up in the islands, the Anson receives its first bit of test top-coat, Reg Marratt profiles another of the “Battlers” working on the Fairey Battle restoration, president David Byrne brings you up to date on the Orion and our immediate strategic priorities… and more…
