This Saturday Temora Aviation Museum will present Aircraft Showcase – Biplanes to Jets. For the Biplane part of the program the Museum’s Tiger Moth will take to the skies along with the Ryan STM. The Tiger Moth was the main aircraft that trained Commonwealth pilots during WWII and our Tiger was based right here at Temora’s RAAF Elementary Flying Training School during the war. The Ryan is possibly the most beautiful aircraft in the Temora Aviation Museum’s collection however the beauty hides its utility as it was designed to be a trainer for the military during the war.

The RAAF Sabre is on the program for Saturday and Squadron Leader Paul Simmons is looking forward to taking it flying. All aircraft perform much better in cool weather and the jets are no exception. Paul’s love of flying led him to become a fighter pilot with the RAAF, flying F/A-18 Hornets and F-15 Eagles on exchange with the USAF. He is a Fighter Combat Instructor (Top Gun) and his skills are put to good use when he is the pilot of the Sabre.

To complete the jet program we have an exciting inclusion of the Museum’s Cessna A-37B Dragonfly. The Dragonfly was used extensively in support of Australian ground forces during the Vietnam conflict and its twin General Electric turbo jet engines give it the best performance of all the jets at the Museum.

Our special guest this Saturday is Red Bull Air Race pilot Matt Hall flying his highly modified race aircraft. Matt is a third generation pilot, a former RAAF Fighter Combat (Top Gun) Instructor, international unlimited aerobatic competitor and in 2009 became not only the first Australian to ever compete in the Red Bull Air Race World Championship but also the first Rookie to finish a Red Bull Race and indeed the entire season on the podium. Matt has over 4500 hours in various aircraft types, more than 1100 in light aircraft and in excess of 500 doing aerobatics. He is an accomplished warbird pilot and has flown at the Museum in the past in a P-51 Mustang. Matt said “I am looking forward to getting back out to Temora. Not only is it where I have been involved in some of the best displays of my time (warbird formations), it is also the ‘birthplace’ of my MXS race plane; where it was rebuilt after its arrival in Australia. Great people, great weather, great planes. What more could you want?”

After the flying is finished the Engineering Team invites all of our visitors into the workshop. This is a highlight of Aircraft Showcase as it gives you an opportunity to see what technical activities are taking place.

The forecast for Saturday is mostly sunny with a top of 15 degrees and light northerly breeze. The Museum’s Mess Hall will be open so you don’t need to pack the picnic basket. Greg Matthews and his team from the NSW Fire Brigade are manning the BBQs and as they are arguably Temora’s most experienced BBQ chefs our visitors will certainly be well fed.

UPCOMING DATES
Note that we will be having a small break from flying over the Christmas period so be sure to check the dates during December and January.

July 2nd, 2011 Aircraft Showcase – Biplanes to Jets – Tiger Moth, Ryan, AZ-27B, Sabre, Matt Hall
July 16th, 2011 Aircraft Showcase – Fighters – Spitfire, Boomerang, Meteor
August 6th, 2011 Aircraft Showcase – American Designed – Ryan, Hudson, Sabre
August 20th, 2011 Aircraft Showcase – Battle of Long Tan – Spitfire, Cessna 0-2A, A-37B Dragonfly
September 3rd, 2011 Aircraft Showcase – Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation – Wirraway, Boomerang, Sabre
September 17th, 2011 Aircraft Showcase – Battle of Britain – Tiger Moth, Spitfire
October 1st, 2011 Aircraft Showcase – Trainers – Tiger Moth, Wirraway, Ryan, Meteor
October 15th, 2011 Aircraft Showcase – Pacific Theatre – Spitfire, Boomerang, Hudson
November 5th, 2011 Aircraft Showcase – Scale Model Invitational – plus the Tiger Moth, Wirraway, Boomerang
November 19th, 2011 AIRSHOW
December 3rd, 2011 Aircraft Showcase – Pearl Harbour/USA – Ryan, Hudson
December 17th, 2011 No Showcase Day
January 7th, 2012 No Showcase Day
January 21st, 2012 Aircraft Showcase – Australian Made – Tiger Moth, Wirraway, Boomerang, Sabre
February 4th, 2012 Aircraft Showcase – British Built – Tiger Moth, Spitfire, Meteor
February 18th, 2012 Aircraft Showcase – Korea to Vietnam – Sabre, Cessna 0-2A, A-37B Dragonfly

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Website www.aviationmuseum.com.au