- Australian National Aviation Museum
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Australian National Aviation Museum 
Established 1962 Location Melbourne, Victoria, Australia Type Aerospace Website aarg.com.au The Australian National Aviation Museum is an aviation museum at the Moorabbin Airport in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It was founded in 1962 as the Australian Aircraft Restoration Group, an attempt to maintain a World War II-era aircraft. It later formed into a museum, and was originally named the Moorabbin Air Museum. It currently holds 50 aircraft and 25 engines.[1]
Contents
History
In 1962, the Australian Aircraft Restoration Group was formed as a nonprofit group by a group of members of the Aviation Historical Society of Australia. The project began with the recovery and restoration of an Australian-built Bristol Beaufighter, that was threatened to be scrapped. Following the donation of the Beaufighter in April 1962, a CAC Wackett trainer was purchased, followed by a DH.60G Moth. In 1964, after additional purchases and donations, the collection was relocated to a service station in north Lilydale near the Moorabbin Airport. The Civil Aviation Safety Authority (formerly Australian Department of Civil Aviation) leased land to the museum, and erected a fence on 20 May 1965. In July 1967, the museum erected a new fence, and increased its land size for its growing collection.
In the 1980s, the museum had over 30 aircraft, but were all suffering from weathering. In April 1989, a 12,000-square-foot (1,100 m2) hangar was built to house and protect the aircraft. Between 1980 and 2000, the aircraft collection increased by an average of one airframe per year. The collection now totals 52 machines.
The museum was awarded a Certificate of Merit, in the 1985 Museum of the Years Awards
Notable aircraft in collection
Year Aircraft Acquired From and How 1962 Bristol Beaufighter Salvage 1962 CAC Wackett Purchased 1962 DH.60G Moth Purchased 1963 Avro Anson Purchased from Flinders Island Airlines 1963 Gloster Meteor Purchased from Australian Department of Supply 1963 DH.82A Tiger Moth Donated from TAA 1963 CAC Wirraway Purchased from CAC 1964 Percival Proctor Donated 1966 P-40 Kittyhawk fuselage Unknown 1967 Fairey Firefly Unknown See also
List of aerospace museums
Notes
- ^ Ogden (2008)
References
- Goodall, Geoff (2008). Warbirds Directory. Australia: Geoff Goodall. (CD-ROM)
- Ogden, Bob (2008). Aviation Museums and Collections of The Rest of the World. UK: Air-Britain. ISBN 9780851303949.
External links
- Australian National Aviation Museum is at coordinates 37°58′36″S 145°05′28″E / 37.9767°S 145.091°ECoordinates: 37°58′36″S 145°05′28″E / 37.9767°S 145.091°E
Categories:- Museums established in 1962
- Museums in Melbourne
- Aerospace museums in Australia
- 1962 establishments in Australia
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