22nd & 23rd March are the dates for the next Flying Weekend, which is fast approaching! This Flying Weekend is a great time for travel, due to it being the Easter long weekend. The Museum will be closed for business on Good Friday (21st March) and will open again on the Saturday (22nd March), the first day of the Flying Weekend.

Many aircraft are expected to fly including the Tiger Moth, Ryan, Canberra, Boomerang, Meteor, Spitfires, Wirraway and Hudson. Tom ‘Mr Magic’ Moon will make his return to the skies above Temora in his aerobatic Extra 300S.

We look forward to you coming along to our March Flying Weekend. If you are looking for accommodation in town, or the surrounding area, visit our website for a list of phone numbers.

NEW ‘AIRCRAFT’

Temora Aviation Museum has a new aircraft! The only problem is that it will probably never fly, however it will attempt to at the Red Bull Flugtag event in Sydney on 6th April 2008. In this unique competition the pilots of homemade-manpowered flying machines launch themselves from a 6 metre ramp into the waters of Sydney Harbour.

The Museum Engineering Team have been working after hours to complete their craft and describe it is as being, “a spicy combination including British design, Australian ingenuity, topped with a splashing of the Orient and finished with a strong hint from our amigos in Mexico”. The design is a replica of the Supermarine Spitfire Mk VIII and is made up of many lightweight materials including bamboo, plastic piping, foam and paper mache. Work has been steady in constructing the ‘aircraft’ in time for it to participate in its finished glory at this first ever ‘Flugtag’ competition at Sydney, sponsored by Red Bull. The event will be similar to the Birdman Rally that has been going in Victoria since 1976. The judging criteria for all machines consist of distance of flight, creativity of the machine and the pre-flight performance.

Museum Team Member Pete Harper is the brave soul who will pilot the Spitfire from the ramp. His ‘crew’, aptly named ‘Temora Supermarines,’ that consist of Aircraft Engineers Ben Muller, Mitch Liebich, Jason Cockayne and Workshop Leading Hand Andrew Bishop, will join him. According to Pete he thinks he will have a pretty good chance of winning as, “We are entering a Spitfire and the Spitfire won the Battle of Britain”.

If you are interested in joining in the spectacle of watching our magnificent machine ‘fly’ into the harbour come along to the Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney, NSW on 6th April 2008 beginning around 12 noon. It’s free to attend.

Check out our ‘aircrafts’ progression on the photo gallery page.

Preparations for the first Flying Weekend for 2006 are underway with the event to occur this weekend, 28th and 29th January.
Most of the Museum’s aircraft are flying, with the line-up including the Spitfire, Dragonfly, Hudson, Tiger Moth, Wirraway, 0-2 and Tom Moon’s Extra.

The Museum is pleased to announce it will be hosting visiting aircraft this weekend including a Boomerang and the RAN Squirrel helicopter team, which is based at 723 Squadron HMAS Albatross in Nowra, NSW. The Navy uses AS 350BA Squirrel helicopters as a lead in helicopter trainer. Training roles, which the Squirrel helicopter pilots undertake, include the conversion to rotary wing flying, operational flying preparation and basic utility training for aircrewmen. If you have previously been unable to catch the Squirrel’s air displays make sure you don’t miss their fantastic synchronised flying routines at this weekend’s event.

In other news, the Museum engineers have been hard at work continuing on the Canberra Bomber’s extensive annual inspection. The Canberra is anticipated to be finished in time for the March 4 & 5 Flying Weekend.

The imposing Catalina Flying Boat, with a wingspan of almost 32 metres, is currently at the Museum on static display. The Catalina was built in 1945 and is famous for the incredible versatility it demonstrated during World War II, including the significant disruption it caused to the Japanese supply lines by the destruction of their shipping. Check it out before it returns to the Historical Aircraft Restoration Society at Albion Park.

Bring the family along to enjoy the sights, sounds and aromas at the January Flying Weekend on Saturday 28th and Sunday 29th. The Museum opens at 10.00 am with flying finishing around 3.00 pm both days. Food and drink are available for purchase from the Museum’s “Mess Hall”. Although some seating is provided, visitors are welcome to bring along their own fold-up chair.

The Museum is excited to announce that two more visiting aircraft are joining its ranks over the weekend. On both Saturday and Sunday, visitors will be able to view flying displays by Col Pays P-40E Kittyhawk, as well as the Catalina Flying Boat from the Historical Aircraft Restoration Society (HARS). It will be a big weekend for the Museum with the inclusion of so many visiting aircraft, the entirety now consisting of Matt Dennings Boomerang, HARSs Constellation, Catalina and two DC-3s as well as Col Pays Kittyhawk.

All these visiting aircraft, along with displays by the Museum vintage collection, will make for an exciting event. Aircraft from the Museums fleet that are planned to fly over the weekend are the Tiger Moth, Wirraway, Vampire, Hudson, Spitfire, Dragonfly and O-2A. The Meteor and Canberra will fly Saturday only and Tom Moon plans to do a spectacular aerobatic display in his Extra 300s both Saturday and Sunday.

Weather

Visitors can expect a predicted top of 30°c over the weekend. Thunderstorms are predicted, however traditionally these tend to hit late in the afternoon, and therefore are not likely to affect our flying display. The weather at present (Friday 25th) is 30°c and is warm and sunny.
The most accurate way to discover the current weather conditions in Temora is to visit the Museums website and click on the Visit Us and Weather link and to choose the Live Radar Picture for Temora and Surrounding Districts icon. This will show you any rainfall that may be in the region, as well as the direction it is heading.

So come along and discover what a Temora Aviation Museum Flying Day entails. The Museum will be open from 10.00 am. Hot and cold food and beverages are available for purchase throughout the day at the Museums ‘Mess Hall’ kiosk. The Museum advises to bring along a fold-up chair if you have one, otherwise stools are available for purchase at the Museum. Flying finishes around 3.00 pm followed by a Ramp Talk with the pilots.

The November 26 & 27 Flying Weekend is shaping up to be a big event.
The majority of the Museum’s aircraft will be flying including the Tiger Moth, Spitfire, Hudson, Wirraway, Vampire and Dragonfly. Spectators can also expect to see a mind-blowing aerobatic display by Sydney accountant Tom Moon, in his Extra 300s.

Canberra City Band

The Canberra City Band is a non-profit community organisation that have played at many of the major civic occasions in Canberra including the annual Canberra Festival, Australia Day ceremonies and Floriade flower show. They will be making their melodic appearance at the Museum on Sunday November 27.

Visiting Aircraft

The Flying Weekend will include several visiting aircraft. The Historical Aircraft Restoration Society (HARS) will be bringing their majestic Super Constellation. HARS’ Super Constellation VH-EAG is the militarised version of Lockheed’s famous range of Constellation aircraft, which revolutionised air transport during the late 1940′s and 1950′s. It is similar to the Super Constellations used by Qantas during this period as their main long range passenger aircraft, which pioneered their around-the-world service.

Super Constellation VH-EAG was involved in the United States Air Force from 1955, as well as with carrying-out service with Air National Guard in the United States during the 1970s. The aircraft was eventually relegated to storage in 1972, at Tucson Arizona. The aircraft was identified as a possible restoration project in 1991 after a thorough survey was taken of the airframe. The survey indicated that the airframe was very sound despite its lamentable condition. The restoration work commenced in May, 1992 at Pima Air & Space Museum, USA. The major difficulty in carrying out the restoration process for VH-EAG was the need for volunteers to continually travel to Tucson to carry out the work, this was time consuming and costly. However the assistance given by both organisations and the countless individuals in the USA and Australia eased the volunteers’ burden and made the restoration process a rewarding experience.
Temora Aviation Museum is looking forward to the Connie’s visit on 26 and 27 November.

HARS will also bring two ex-RAAF C-47s. They will be at the Museum on Saturday 26 only. We thank HARS for their involvement in our Flying Weekend and look forward to seeing their aircraft.

Matt Denning’s CA-13 Boomerang will also make an appearance at the November Flying Weekend. Matt is a regular Flying Day participant at Temora and we look forward to having him exhibit his historic work of art on November 26 & 27.

Matt made an appearance at Temora Aviation Museum a few weeks ago for a group of ex No. 83 Squadron members. They were thrilled to see the aircraft in all its glory once again. Matt’s Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation CA-13 Boomerang with RAAF serial number A46-122, served its entire service career with No. 83 Squadron RAAF and carried the code letters MH-R on its fuselage sides. MH was the squadron code for 83 SQN, whilst the individual letter R was assigned to this particular aircraft.

Make sure you don’t miss these historic aircraft in Temora. They will make a great end to the 2005 Museum Flying Days.

The October Flying Weekend resulted in two successful, action-packed days with great weather. The cloudless sky created the perfect blue backdrop for aircraft displays by the Tiger Moth, Ryan, Wirraway, Dragonfly, Hudson, Spitfire, Cessna 0-2, Canberra, Vampire and Tom Moon’s Extra.

Sundays schedule involved the inclusion of Matt Dennings CA-13 Boomerang. The Boomerang is an all-Australian designed and built aircraft of which there are only two of them still flying in the world (Matts being one!). Matt began his Boomerang restoration when he was 15 years old. In August 1975 he coerced his father Ray, to part with the princely sum of thirty dollars to acquire a dilapidated tube steel fuselage frame that constituted the remains of a Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation (CAC) CA-13 Boomerang, subsequently identified as A46-122 (c/n. 945). The bones of this machine were recovered from the Oakey district in South East Queensland by an avid collector of aircraft artifacts, John Hill. From here on Matt initially set about restoring the aircraft to static condition, but then embarked into making it a fully operational aircraft. The rebuilding of the aircraft took 27 years – a feat of passion. In February 2003 Matt had the opportunity to fly his aircraft for the first time. Prior to this, it last flew in 1945. Matt continues to exhibit his aircraft for Temora Aviation Museum Flying Days and the Museum is fortunate to have his Boomerang on loan for the next few weeks, where it will be on display, so come and check it out.

Sydney Weekender

The Sydney Weekender Team filmed a segment for their show at the Museum on Friday and Saturday. Everyone at the Museum appreciated the effort that the team put into creating some great footage. We look forward to seeing it on air! The Temora Aviation Museum segment is due to screen on Sydney Weekender, Saturday 15 October 2005 at 5.30 pm on Channel Seven.

Kids Corner

The Museum trialled an area devoted entirely to children over the Flying Weekend. The area was called Kids Corner and it gave kids the opportunity to enter a colouring competition – the subject being the Spitfire. This proved very popular for children, as well as their parents (who enjoyed keeping the young ones entertained). Kids Corner will now continue over subsequent Flying Days with other activities also planned.

Changes to Flying Day Admission Prices

Flying Days admission prices will increase, starting at the November 26 & 27 2005 Flying Weekend.
Changes will be made to adults and senior prices, with children remaining the same.
Prices are as follows: adults – $15.00; adults over 65 – $10.00; children – $5.00.

The July Flying Weekend saw the Museum host a two-day event displaying its collection of aircraft. Saturday produced some cold weather with some very light intermittent rainfall. Luckily, it wasn’t enough to deter our pilots from flying. The line up involved the Tiger Moth, Ryan, Wirraway and Spitfire, Meteor, Cessnas 0-1 and 0-2, Dragonfly and a particularly spectacular performance by Tom Moon in his eagle-adorned Extra 300S.

Sunday was a much sunnier day although deceivingly cold with winds that felt like they were straight off the snowfields. Doug Hamilton brought his Ceres to join us for the day. The Ceres was built post World War II by the Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation at Fishermans Bend in Victoria. Built mostly out of Wirraway components it bears a striking resemblence to our CAC Wirraway. The Tiger Moth and Ryan flew together followed by the Wirraway and Ceres, Spitfire and Vampire. After lunch the Cessnas 0-1 and 0-2 flew followed by the Canberra, Dragonfly and Tom Moon’s Extra. Both days ended with a Ramp Talk, which offered visitors the opportunity to get closer to the aircraft and to ask the pilots a range of questions.

We thank all those ardent supporters out there for braving the cold weather to support the Museum’s July Flying Weekend! Our next Flying Weekend is five weeks away and falls on August 27 and 28. A great drawcard for the August Flying Weekend is an expected visit from the Royal Australian Air Force Roulette Aerobatic Team on the Sunday… sure to be entertaining.

Williamtown

The Museum’s Gloster Meteor F.8 was unable to attend the Royal Australian Air Force 77 Squadron Association Reunion held at Williamtown on Friday 15 July, due to the overcast weather here at Temora. We hope that everyone, especially the Korean War Veterans enjoyed their day.

This weekend, Saturday 16 and Sunday 17 July is a Flying Weekend here at Temora Aviation Museum. Flying Weekends are a chance for visitors to witness the Museum’s vintage aircraft collection take to the skies. The Flying is set to involve the majority of the Museums collection including the graceful moves of the Tiger Moth and Ryan, the Cessna 0-1 and 0-2, the only flying Spitfire in Australia, Meteor, Cessna A37B, the Trojan and a spectacular aerobatic display by Tom Moon in his Extra. The only difference at this stage is that the Canberra and Vampire are flying Sunday only.

For those of you that have not yet visited a Temora Aviation Museum Flying Day, Museum doors open at 10.00 am with flying beginning at 11.00 am. Hot and cold food and beverages are available for purchase throughout the day at the Museum’s ‘Mess Hall’ kiosk. Flying finishes around 3.00 pm followed by a Ramp Talk. This allows visitors to get up close to the aircraft and talk to the pilots, who will be stationed in front of their aircraft. The Museum closes at 4.00 pm.

Weather Forecast

According to the website ‘Weatherzone – Australia’s leading weather resource’ a forecast of a cool, mostly cloudy Saturday with a top of 13°C is expected. So remember to rug-up for the cool weather.
In the event of rain, the Museum will be open as usual. Depending on the rate of the rainfall, the Temora Historic Flight Club Director of Flying Operations, Darren Crabb will determine if the flying activity will take place.

Williamtown

The Museums Gloster Meteor F.8 will be flying to Williamtown on Friday to take part in a Royal Australian Air Force 77 Squadron Association reunion. Many Korean War Veterans will attend including several from the Republic of South Korea’s 102 Squadron.
The Meteor will return to Temora Friday afternoon to take part in the Museum’s Flying Weekend.

The Museum presented an amazing display for its first flying weekend for 2005. Moderate temperatures and clear skies contributed to the action-packed two days.

Saturday saw the participation of the ‘heavies’, with displays by the Hudson, Catalina and Canberra Bomber. These aircraft looked majestic as they took to the sky. The flying program included performances by Lars Larson in the Tiger Moth, the RAN Squirrel Helicopter Team, Boomerang, Cessna 0-2A, David Lowy in the A-37B Dragonfly, and was capped off by Tom Moon in his Extra 300S.
We would also like to thank the NSW Fire Brigade for participating in Saturday’s flying display by providing their jointly owned anti-terrorism helicopter ‘Fire Air 1’. The addition of their fire engines and HAZMAT van also created a welcoming site for those interested.

Sunday’s display showed one super heavy aircraft in the form of the HARS Constellation. The roar of her four R-3350 radial engines was something Temora won’t forget. Sunday held a fighter theme with performances by the Wirraway, Kittyhawk, Boomerang, Meteor, Vampire and Dragonfly. The day was complete with routines by the RAN Squirrel helicopters and Tom Moon’s Extra.

We are busy planning for our next flying weekend on March 26 & 27. See you then.

The engineers are fuelling the aircraft and are doing their final checks as our pilots are making their way to Temora for this weekend’s flying.

Many visiting aircraft will be at Temora over the weekend including:
Saturday – Matt Denning’s CAC Boomerang, Historic Aircraft Restoration Society (HARS) Catalina, HARS Super Constellation, Royal Australian Navy (RAN) Squirrel Helicopter Display Team from Nowra, Lynette Zucolli’s T-28 Trojan (static) and Fire Air 1 anti-terrorism helicopter (static).

Sunday – Matt Denning’s CAC Boomerang, HARS Super Constellation, RAN Navy Squirrels, Col Pay’s Kittyhawk and Lynette Zucolli’s T-28 Trojan (static).

From the Museum’s collection, we are planning for the following aircraft to take to the air: Tiger Moth, Hudson, Meteor, Cessna 0-2A, A37B Dragonfly, Vampire, Wirraway, Canberra and the amazing Tom Moon in his Extra 300S.

Weather

Temora has experienced varying weather conditions this week so we recommend that you bring along everything from a warm jacket for cool weather to a hat and sunscreen if it’s sunny!

Refreshments

Lunch and refreshments can be purchased throughout the day at the affectionately named ‘Mess Hall’. Hot and cold food and beverages are available. The Temora branch of the NSW Fire Brigade operates the Mess Hall and all proceeds go to local charity.

Come along to the Museum’s flying weekend on February 5th and 6th and enjoy the spectacular flying display, guaranteed to entertain visitors of all ages. The Museum opens at 10.00 am and flying begins at 11.00 am. Although some seating is provided, you are welcome to bring a fold-up chair.

With only ten days until the next flying weekend, the Museum’s Engineering team are hard at work getting the aircraft ready.
Due to unforseen circumstances, the P-40 Kittyhawk and P-51 Mustang cannot join us, however the Musuem’s Spitfire and Matt Denning’s Boomerang will be on hand for you to hear their unique sounds.

The HARS Catalina will venture across from the coast to compliment the Museum’s Hudson Bomber, and the RAN Squirrels will entertain you with their dynamic helicopter formation display. Other aircraft from the Museum’s collection to be included in the weekend’s displays will be the Tiger Moth, Ryan, Cessna 0-2, Wirraway, Canberra, Vampire, Meteor, Dragonfly and Tom Moon’s ever dynamic Extra 300S.

Our flying weekends could not go ahead without the assistance of the pilots, crew and volunteers, thank you.

Sunday October 31 saw the Museum’s aircraft participate in two fantastic aviation events. The A-37B Dragonfly was deployed to NAS Nowra in support of the Naval Museum of Flight’s Open Day. The weather was perfect with a clear blue sky and light winds. The flying displays commenced at 11 am and finished at 3 pm. In that time the spectators were treated not only to the Museum’s spectacularly nimble A-37B Dragonfly, but also to the Sea Fury, T-6, L-39, Tom Moon’s Extra 300, The Roulettes, Catalina and Constellation. The Nowra Museum reported that 10,000 spectators attended the day, which was considered a resounding success.

The Canberra ventured south to participate in RAAF Pt Cook’s Interactive Day. Their day included an aircraft display followed by ramp talk with the public learning about the aircraft just viewed. The Pt Cook Museum staff provided the commentary and ramp talk, and augmented the flying display with an engine start on their static Canberra. This allowed the spectators a first-hand sensation of the cartridge start in the Avon engines. Due to Pt Cook’s runway being too short for landing, the Canberra proceeded to Avalon to support its operations. RAAF Pt Cook commended the Canberra crew on an excellent aerial display, witnessed by one of their largest Interactive Day crowds so far, with standing room only for the spectators!

The Naval Museum of Flight’s Open Day and RAAF Pt Cook’s Interactive Day have both helped to showcase the Museum’s quality aircraft to thousands of visitors. The Museum hopes to see these aviation enthusiasts attending future flying weekends at Temora.

For all of the aviation enthusiasts that just can’t wait until the next Temora Aviation Museum Flying weekend on 27 and 28 November, there will be two flying events occurring on Sunday 31 October. The Museum’s aircraft will be displaying at both of these worthwhile venues.

The first event is at NAS Nowra, which will feature our A-37B Dragonfly. This is in support of the Nowra Naval Museum of Flight’s flying display. There will be a wide variety of notable partakers, which includes Tom Moon in his Extra 300S as well as the Historical Aircraft Restoration Society, which will present both the Catalina and Constellation.

The second event will feature the Museum’s Canberra Bomber. It will venture down to the RAAF Pt. Cook’s Interactive Display Day. The RAAF Museum hosts a flying and commentary day on a regular basis to showcase significant Australian military aircraft. Temora Aviation Museum has greatly appreciated RAAF Pt. Cook’s support during some of our past displays and will now reciprocate participation.

FLYING PROGRAMME
Lars Larson will commence the flying displays at 11:00am in the WWII Tiger Moth, followed by the Wirraway and the Spitfire. The Vampire will reacquaint itself with the skies making way for the Meteor, Canberra and Dragonfly to entertain you. Not for the faint hearted will be Tom Moon showing his aerobatic skills in the Extra 300s. Visitors have the opportunity to speak to the pilots and see the aircraft up close at 3:15pm prior to the Museum closing at 4:00pm.

WEATHER
The weather at Temora is gorgeous with cold nights leading into cool, sunny days. The forecast for this weekend is for clear, sunny skies and cool temperatures. So rug up and come and spend the day in the fresh air here at Temora Aviation Museum.

HOLIDAY MONDAY
Whilst Aircraft will not be flying on Monday, June 14, visitors are welcome to see the family of Warbirds in the Display Hangar as well as the static displays, theatre and gift shop. Be sure to check out the new multi-media exhibits, the enhanced tribute to No.10 ETFS and the new Skydancing display in the exhibition buildings. The Museum will be open from 10am to 4pm.

The flying will commence here at Temora Aviation Museum on Saturday 24th April from 11am with the Tiger Moth and the Ryan leading a field of Warbirds which will entertain you for four hours. This will include displays by the Boomerang and Wirraway: the Spitfire and Mustang: the O1, O2A and Trojan: the Canberra and the A37B Dragonfly. Tom Moon will also thrill you with his aerobatic display in his Extra 300s.

On Sunday 25th April the Museum is honored to be asked to participate in the Temora Anzac March and Cenotaph Service which will commence at 11.15am. Museum pilot and Retired Air Commodore Bruce Wood will be the guest speaker at the service. The Spitfire and Wirraway along with Matt Denning’s Boomerang and Judy Pay and Dick Hourigan’s Mustang will conduct a fly past at the conclusion of the service. The flying program will commence at the Museum at 12.30pm. Visitors will witness nostalgic displays by the Spitfire, Boomerang, Mustang, Tiger Moth, L-39, Trojan and A37B.

In remembrance of Anzac Day the Temora Aviation Museum has joined with the History Channel to air the programme titled Temora Aviation Museum Warbirds. This one hour documentary will premier in Australia and New Zealand on the History Channel Sunday 25th April 2004 at 6.30pm EST.