The weekend is rapidly approaching and the Museum staff are getting ready for Aircraft Showcase – Forward Air Control. The Museum’s Cessna O-2A and A-37B Dragonfly will be joined by visiting aircraft which include two Cessna Birddogs, owned by Gordon Glynn, The Royal Australian Navy Historic Flight’s UH-1 Huey and Steve Death’s T-28 Trojan. The Iroquois UH1B helicopter is graced with the iconic helicopter shape and the classic “wokka wokka” chopper sound. The UH-1 was used extensively in Vietnam throughout the 1960’s, was assigned to 135th Assault Helicopter Company (part of US 214th Combat Aviation Battalion) and now has a home with Nowra’s Historic Flight.

The Museum’s Cessna O-2A and both Birddogs are Forward Air Control veterans with records showing that the O-2A has logged more the 4,100 hours in combat. Gordon’s grey Birddog logged in excess of 10,000 combat flying hours, was shot down twice and had a mid air collision with a fighter which cut off several feet of one wing. The pilot Lt Col Richard Brown, who was a veteran of WWII and Korea, managed to land safely. This aircraft now carries the markings of the Royal Thai Air Force. The green ‘Dog was used as a FAC and served with Air America including some time with the Ravens. At one stage of its life it had twin M-60 machine guns mounted under the wings.

The flying will include a combination of individual sequences and some formation flying mixed with interviews from the pilots. When the flying is complete our visitors are invited to check out the Engineering Hangar where demonstrations will be taking place. Currently the Spitfire Mk VIII is undergoing an annual inspection and you will see the aircraft with all its panels removed. The Spitfire will be up on jacks and the engineering team will show you how the landing gear retracts as they put it through several cycles using a hydraulic power supply.

ACROSS OZ
Two adventure motorbike riders are on the journey of a lifetime, crossing Australia from East to West before returning home via the southern coastline. Damian Milo and Bruce Potts, will be completing a passion that has been in the planning for years, inspired by other great adventure motorcycling tales from around the globe and their own deep driven instincts for adventure and living life to the full.In conjunction with Fountainhead Retreat and the Anti Depression Association of Australia, the riders are promoting the awareness of depressive related illnesses across the country in an effort to send out the message that there are indeed answers to control this debilitating illness and to offer direction for sufferers on where to seek help. Covering six weeks and some 12,000 kilometers, the journey is coming close to the end and it wouldn’t be complete without a stop at Temora Aviation Museum. This Saturday the team comes to the Museum and will spend some time sharing their experiences with our visitors before heading north towards home. www.acrossoz.net

NEW DATES RELEASED
May 7th 2011 Aircraft Showcase – Forward Air Control O-1, O-2, A-37B, Sabre
May 21st, 2011 Aircraft Showcase – Pacific Theatre Hudson, Spitfire, Wirraway
Jun 4th 2011 Aircraft Showcase Korea – Meteor, Sabre, Mustang
Jun 18th 2011 Aircraft Showcase – World War II Tiger Moth, Ryan, Spitfire, Harvard

And the date you have all been waiting for….

Temora Aviation Museum will be holding a Big Flying Event in 2011 on November 19th.

SPECIAL CHRISTMAS OFFER FOR ONLINE SHOP…
Christmas is just around the corner with just over a month before Santa packs the sleigh. The Museum Gift Shop is well stocked with everything the aviation enthusiast in your life could wish for. Visit the Gift Shop while you are here this weekend or click on the link below to take you to easy online shopping.

Visit our online shop to check out our great variety of DVDs, books, caps, clothing, and giftware. New items have been added which include travel mugs, cups, hip flasks, and more. There are only a few limited edition Sabre hats left, and they make the perfect gift.

We are offering a special Christmas promotion for all orders made between today and Christmas Day. If you spend $50 or more on merchandise from our online shop, we will give you a FREE ANNUAL PASS to the Temora Aviation Museum (including Showcase Days) valued at $50.

Check out the shop now!
http://www.aviationmuseum.com.au/shop/